Fake cheque a reality for teen

Canadian Andreescu says visualisation technique helped her beat Williams in final

A jubilant Bianca Andreescu after becoming Canada's first Grand Slam champion. She beat Serena Williams 6-3, 7-5 in the US Open final on Saturday to extend the American's wait for a 24th major singles title.
A jubilant Bianca Andreescu after becoming Canada's first Grand Slam champion. She beat Serena Williams 6-3, 7-5 in the US Open final on Saturday to extend the American's wait for a 24th major singles title. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

NEW YORK • If you have been considering active visualisation, this seems a fine time to start.

The technique certainly has worked wonders for Bianca Andreescu, who for years has been closing her eyes and envisioning herself clinching the US Open against Serena Williams.

She even wrote herself a fake cheque three years ago to simulate how it would feel to be awarded the winners' prize money of US$3.85 million (S$5.3 million) at Flushing Meadows.

On Saturday afternoon, with her eyes wide open and her shots so often bold and true, Andreescu went out and did just that, cashing in on her dream.

"For it to become a reality is so crazy," she said, breaking down in tears in her post-match news conference. "I guess these visualisations, really, really work."

Her remarkable 6-3, 7-5 victory, which capped her first appearance in New York, thwarted Williams' fourth attempt to match Margaret Court's record of 24 major singles titles.

Much more significant to Andreescu's compatriots was the fact that her victory gave Canada its first Grand Slam champion.

  • BIANCA'S BIG WIN

  • 1

    First to win the US Open on her main-draw debut.

    19

    Andreescu's age. The last time a teenager won a Grand Slam was Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2006.

    208

    Her ranking a year ago. She will be fifth in today's rankings.

Shortly after the 19-year-old's victory, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent her a congratulatory message with the hashtag #shethenorth - a re-imagining of the slogan used by the Toronto Raptors as they won their first National Basketball Association championship in June.

It shot to the top of Canada's trending Twitter topics as the country's professional sports outfits all tweeted their congratulations.

Making it clear that the warm feelings were mutual, Andreescu said: "It's been a goal of mine to inspire many people. So many Canadian athletes have paved the way for me when I was young. Hopefully, I can be that person to them."

The teenager has had no shortage of ups and downs in her short career, but her rise has been astonishingly swift. She lost in the first round of qualifying at the US Open for the last two years and was ranked outside the top 150 when the season began.

But Andreescu has long believed that tennis greatness awaited her and even in her lowest moments, she never stopped "fighting for your dreams".

Of those tough times, she said: "It's definitely a process of life. It builds you as a character. Everyone should go through it because it just makes you stronger ."

While always regarded as a prodigy - at age 15, she had already won her second Orange Bowl junior title - injuries, including back problems, had held her back.

So earlier this season, she addressed weaknesses in her core, and after focusing more on using the full range of her shotmaking and tactics, she broke through in earnest in March by winning at Indian Wells - among the most prestigious of events outside of a Slam.

But she was forced to miss nearly all the clay-court season and had to give the grass-court swing a miss with a torn rotator cuff.

Since returning to the WTA Tour last month, she has resumed her mastery, landing the Rogers Cup after Williams retired in their first career meeting in Toronto.

Andreescu is 8-0 against top 10 players this year and has not lost a completed match since March 1, recording 45 wins out of 49 matches this season.

She will jump 10 spots to world No. 5 today and is the first teenager to lift a Slam since a then 19-year-old Maria Sharapova won the US Open in 2006.

Greg Rusedski believes the "sky is the limit" for Andreescu.

Telling Amazon Prime her only barrier was staying healthy, the retired British-Canadian player said: "I see her being (world) No. 1 next year, winning maybe two Slams and dominating women's tennis. She is that good."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NY TIMES, REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 09, 2019, with the headline Fake cheque a reality for teen. Subscribe