Bianca Andreescu upsets Serena Williams to win 2019 US Open

Nineteen-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu sealed her first Grand Slam title on Saturday, downing 23-time major champion Serena Williams in the 2019 US Open women’s singles final, 6-3, 7-5. 

The teenager from Mississauga, Ontario, becomes the first Canadian woman to win a Slam singles title in the Open era, and joins Naomi Osaka and Ashleigh Barty as first-time Slam winners in their maiden final appearance over the past 12 months. 

“I was feeling many, many things before the match, more than any other match. In the finals, playing Serena. I just tried to breathe as much as I could from the moment I woke up until the match. I tried to just do that throughout the whole match, to just keep my nerves in place,” Andreescu said. “It wasn’t easy at all, but I think that’s what I’ve been doing really well throughout this whole year.”

For the first hour of the match, the rookie looked more like the veteran, as she kept Williams guessing with precise, aggressive hitting off the ground, and dominated rallies with her forehand.

Williams, meanwhile, struggled on serve, and allowed Andreescu to build a hefty 6-3, 5-1 lead. The American double-fautled three times to lose serve over the first set-and-a-half, and found herself a point away from defeat as Andreescu served for the match the first time, in the seventh game of the second set.

Saving match point with a big forehand winner, Williams was given new life—as a partisan crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium also roared alive in support—and she embarked on a run of four straight games to level the set. 

“I had some doubts because I’ve witnessed her come back from being 5-0 down, 5-1 down, 5-2 down. I just told myself to stick with my tactics. She started playing much better. I think the crowd really helped her, as well,” the Canadian said.

“I was blocking out the noise, or trying to. I could barely hear myself think really. It was really, really loud. But I guess that’s what makes this tournament so special… but it definitely wasn’t easy, especially when she started coming back in the second set. I mean, it was expected. She’s a champion. That’s what champions do. She’s done that many, many times throughout her career.

“I just tried to stay as composed as I could. It’s hard to just block everything out, but I think I did a pretty good job at that.”

The teenager settled in, though, as she recorded her first hold of serve in the better part of a half hour to edge back in front. With Williams serving to force a tiebreak, Andreescu ended the match with her 19th winner, a down-the-line forehand return she’ll never forget. 

WHAT IT MEANS: Having never before been past the second round of a Slam, Andreescu etches her name in the history books in just her fourth main-draw appearance, and her US Open main-draw debut.

She joins Monica Seles in that exclusive club, having been just the sixth woman to reach a major final in four main-draw appearances or less. Born nine months after Williams won her first Grand Slam singles title at the 1999 US Open, Andreescu will now soar into the WTA’s Top 5. Her new ranking of No. 5, when the updated rankings are released on Monday, will equal the highest ranking ever achieved by a Canadian woman.

The Open trophy is her third title of the season, in addition to Indian Wells and Toronto, and all three events are among the biggest events that the WTA has to offer. Andreescu is the sixth woman all-time to win Indian Wells and then win the US Open, following in Naomi Osaka, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles’ footsteps dating back to 1992. 

MATCH POINT: Andreescu is the first teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Sharapova (19 years, 132 days) at the 2006 US Open.

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