Tennis: Bianca Andreescu makes a name for herself

Bianca Andreescu. Photo / Photosport

Bianca Andreescu will never forget the ASB Classic. And Auckland will always remember her.

The Canadian arrived as an complete unknown almost two weeks ago, one of a number of anonymous players who sign in for qualifying with high hopes but little expectation.

She left as the people's champion, the player who stole thousands of hearts.

Even in Sunday night's final, the majority of the crowd were on her side, which was remarkable, as defending champion Julia Goerges has been coming to Auckland for a decade and is a popular figure with fans.

But Andreescu was something special. There haven't been too many young players who have made such an impact here.

Perhaps only Rafa Nafal in 2004 comes to mind.

As world No 48, he was already recognised as a player on the rise but his run to the final here as a 17-year-old captured the imagination.

There have been other shock results but not in the manner the Canadian managed.

Andreescu didn't just beat world No 3 Caroline Wozniacki, she blew her off the court with mix of power, precision and panache.

Young players are rarely able to back up such big wins but Andreescu was different.

The following night, she faced Venus Williams, the living legend of the women's game, and the American took the first set.

The story was supposed to end there. But it didn't, with Andreescu winning 11 straight games in an amazing comeback win.

"My victory against Venus was the most special," said Andreescu. "She's is a multi grand slam champion, her sister is Serena Williams. I was like, 'what is going on?' I broke her five times in a row. She is one of the best servers in the game."

Andreescu's first match in Auckland was in front of about 30 spectators on an outside court.

She beat Slovakian Kristina Kucova, and the following day had another straight sets win.

Last Monday, as the big names were still making sponsor appearances, Andreescu spent more than two hours on court, upsetting qualifying top seed Laura Siegemund in straight sets.

Her first-round match against world No 59 Timea Babos was eerily quiet, as almost everyone in the vicinity was focused on the Williams-Victoria Azarenka centre court epic taking place at the same time.

Two nights later, the world No 152 was barely noticed as she took the court against Wozniacki.

Everything had changed 132 minutes later, with a standing ovation as the Ontario-born Andreescu left the court.

Ultimately, Andreescu couldn't take the final step, but pushed Goerges to the limit, before losing 6-2, 5-7, 1-6 in almost two hours.

"I played qualies, I wasn't supposed to make the finals of this tournament," said Andreescu. "I am really proud that I was able to hang in there mentally and physically.

"I was one game away from winning the match, so I will probably be thinking about this for a couple of days. But I can't complain. I had an amazing week, I beat a lot of top players, so hopefully I can keep doing this for the rest of the year."

Andreescu will enter the top 100 after her Auckland exploits and is the talk of the tennis world.

"It feels really good, I'm not going to lie," said Andreescu. "But I am trying to stay grounded, stay humble and use it to my advantage.

"Now that my confidence is pretty up there, hopefully I can take that into my next tournaments, deep into the Australian Open and get my ranking up to where I want it to be, which is top 50 by the end of the year."

And whatever happens, she'll be back in Auckland next year.

"How can I not?" laughed Andreescu. "Everyone here is so nice, I love the courts, the atmosphere and I made the finals."