Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu says it will be an “amazing experience” to face Serena Williams (read more Serena Williams news) in the final of the Rogers Cup on Sunday but insists she won’t be there just to make up the numbers.
The 19-year-old will become the first Canadian to contest the Rogers Cup final since 1969 after seeing off American Sofia Kenin 6-4 7-6 (7-5). It will be Andreescu’s second final appearance of the season having sprung a surprise when beating former world no.1 Angelique Kerber in the final of Indian Wells in March.
Having recently had a spell out with a shoulder injury, forcing her to miss Wimbledon, Andreescu has been in fine form this week, defeating top-10 duo Kiki Bertens and Karolina Pliskova before her victory over Kenin on Saturday. Now comes the biggest test of her young career though as she prepares to take on 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams on Sunday in Toronto.
The American was on the backfoot in her semi-final against Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova after dropping the first set 6-1 but came roaring back to win the match 1-6 6-3 6-3. Williams admitted she will need to make some mental adjustments to her game for Sunday’s final, which will be her second of the year after her defeat to Simona Halep in the Wimbledon showpiece.
The 37-year-old is looking for her first title since becoming a mother and her third win at the Rogers Cup. She is the 1.57 favourite to win while Andreescu is 2.38 to claim the second WTA(read more WTA news) Tour title of her career.
Andreescu says she won’t be overawed by facing one of the greats of women’s tennis and is fully focused on claiming a famous win on home soil. “I’ve watched Serena play so many times,” said Andreescu.
“It would be really cool to play Serena. It’s going to be an amazing experience, for sure, playing a legend. It would be an honour to share the court with her. “But when I go out there, like I said, I’m fearless. So hopefully that will be the case when I play her.” Checkout tennis news today.
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