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Canadian teen Bianca Andreescu stuns Caroline Wozniacki at ASB Classic

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu has recorded a massive tennis upset.
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Canada’s Bianca Andreescu beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the ASB Classic on Thursday. (Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS)

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu has recorded a massive tennis upset.

The 18-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., stunned world No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the ASB Classic on Thursday.

After delivering a forehand, crosscourt winner out of the reach of the top-seeded Wozniacki on match point, an emotional Andreescu bent down and put her hands over her head as she received a huge ovation from the crowd in the aftermath of a two hour 14 minute match.

Andreescu, who had to qualify just to make the season-opening tournament, is ranked No. 152 in the world.

“Honestly, I can’t believe it right now. I’ve dreamed of playing on this stage against top players and now I’m here,” Andreescu said on-court after the match.

“I’ve had a couple of back issues the past couple of months. I just fought until the end.”

That was in evidence in the second set as Andreescu saved three break points in a game with seven deuces, levelling the set at 3-3. Overall, Andreescu saved 83 per cent of break points.

The win over the reigning Australian Open champion sends Andreescu into a match against former world No. 1 Venus Williams, the No. 6 seed, in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., also in the quarterfinals. She’ll face No. 2 seed Julia Goerges of Germany.

The contest against Wozniacki was Andreescu’s first match in history against a top-10 player. The defeat for Wozniacki marked the lowest-ranked player she had lost to since 2013.

Andreescu turned professional in 2016. She had a solid summer in 2017, qualifying for her first and only Grand Slam to date (Wimbledon) and reaching the quarterfinals of the Citi Open in Washington with an upset of then-No.13 Kristina Mladenovic.

But Andreescu hit some hurdles in 2018, dealing with injuries (she missed the Rogers Cup in Montreal) and inconsistent results.

Before the season ended, however, she won two lower-level events in the United States (with US$25,000 purses) to build some confidence heading into 2019.