Canada Bianca Andreescu was 19 years old when she walked onto Arthur Ashe Stadium for the 2019 US Open final. On the other side of the net was Serena Williams, 37, a 23-time Grand Slam champion, with almost the entire stadium behind her. The script called for nerves and deference.
Andreescu won 6-3, 7-5. And if you have followed her since, you know that night was only the first chapter of one of the most dramatic, frustrating and ultimately moving stories in modern tennis.
A Canadian With Romanian Roots
Andreescu was born on 16 June 2000 in Mississauga, Ontario. Her parents, Nicu and Maria, emigrated from Romania to Canada in 1994. She is fluent in Romanian and still visits the country regularly.
From a young age she practised visualisation and meditation, a habit she has talked about openly. Long before most teenagers think about sports psychology, she was picturing herself holding big trophies. In 2019, that stopped being a daydream.
The Year Nobody Saw Coming
Andreescu started 2019 ranked outside the top 150. In January, as a qualifier in Auckland, she beat Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams on her way to the final. In March she won Indian Wells as a wildcard, beating Angelique Kerber in the final. In August she won the Canadian Open in Toronto, where Serena Williams retired injured early in the final. Then she beat Serena again, properly this time, in the US Open final.
She became the first Canadian, man or woman, to win a Grand Slam singles title. She rose to a career-high world No. 4 in October 2019. Three of the biggest titles in the sport in one season, and all at 19.
How She Plays
What made Andreescu so exciting was variety. In an era of heavy, one-dimensional hitting, she could do almost everything: a strong serve, a heavy topspin forehand, a sharp two-handed backhand, a slice that stayed low, drop shots disguised until the last moment and genuine comfort at the net. She changed pace and height constantly, which scrambles opponents' rhythm.
She also had presence. At her best she played the big points as if she expected to win them. That combination of craft and nerve is why fans and fellow players have kept rooting for her through everything that followed.
The Injury Years
The body did not keep pace with the talent. A right shoulder problem in the spring of 2019 was only the start. At the 2019 WTA Finals she hurt her knee, and between that injury and the pandemic she did not play again for about 15 months.
She came back in 2021 and reached the Miami Open final, but had to retire against Ashleigh Barty with an ankle injury. Late in 2021 she took an extended break for her mental health, speaking honestly about anxiety and burnout. In 2023 she badly injured her ankle in Miami and left the court in a wheelchair. In 2024 a back stress fracture kept her out for months, although she returned to reach the final on grass in 's-Hertogenbosch and the third round at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon.
2025 began with an emergency appendectomy. She fought back to reach the fourth round in Rome, beating Elena Rybakina on the way, and spoke about treating the season as maybe her last chance. Then, at her home event in Montreal in August, she tore ligaments in her ankle and missed the rest of the summer. She started working with coach Dušan Vemić in September 2025.
2026: Back to the Roots
By the start of 2026 Andreescu was ranked outside the top 200. Rather than chase wildcards, she went back to the lower level of the sport. In January she won two titles on the ITF World Tennis Tour in Florida, at Bradenton and Vero Beach, her first trophies of any kind since the 2019 US Open. In March she reached the final of the WTA 125 event in Austin.
In June she came through three rounds of Wimbledon qualifying to reach a Grand Slam main draw for the first time since the 2024 US Open, and cried on court for several minutes afterwards. She lost a tight first-round match to Zhang Shuai 7-6, 7-6. In August she entered US Open qualifying, won her first two matches convincingly, then lost in the final round to Tamara Zidanšek. Ranked around No. 186, she has said her mindset has shifted from chasing outcomes to trusting the process.
It is not the fairy tale yet. But she is healthy, playing regularly and winning matches again, which for Andreescu is its own kind of victory.
Why 2019 Still Matters
Andreescu's 2019 remains one of the great single seasons in recent women's tennis, and her US Open title transformed the profile of the sport in Canada. It arrived at the start of a golden period for Canadian tennis: Leylah Fernandez reached the US Open final two years later, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov became fixtures in the men's game, Canada won the Davis Cup in 2022 and the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023. Andreescu was the first to prove that a Canadian could win the biggest prize of all, and kids in tennis clubs from Vancouver to Montreal took notice.
It is also worth remembering how she won. Against Serena in that final, she led 6-3, 5-1, then watched the crowd roar Serena back to 5-5. Most 19-year-olds would have wilted. Andreescu reset, broke serve and served it out, winning the last two games. That ability to stay calm inside chaos is the part of her game that injuries have never taken away.
Her later struggles have been painful to watch, but they have also made her one of the most relatable players on tour. She has been unusually open about injuries, anxiety and self-doubt, and her willingness to start again at small ITF events rather than walk away tells you a lot about how much she still loves the game.
Quick Facts
- Born: 16 June 2000, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
- Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
- Career-high ranking: No. 4 (21 October 2019)
- WTA singles titles: 3, all in 2019 (Indian Wells, Canadian Open, US Open)
- Grand Slam title: US Open 2019, the first by a Canadian in singles
- Other finals: Auckland 2019, Miami 2021, 's-Hertogenbosch 2024
- Career prize money: about $10.1 million
- 2026: two ITF titles, WTA 125 final in Austin, Wimbledon main draw via qualifying
- Coach: Dušan Vemić (since September 2025)
Last updated: September 2026