By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, March 17, 2019
Drained by cranky cramps, a creaky serving shoulder and the ongoing headaches posed by the former wold No. 1 across the net, a gimpy Bianca Andreescu leaned on her racquet as if it were a cane.
Down a break in the decisive set of an intense Indian Wells final, it appeared Andreescu didn’t have a leg to stand on.
More: Andreescu Stuns Svitolina
Then she put her foot down.
“I’m so tired. I can barely move out there,” Andreescu admitted to her coach. “I want this so bad.”
That declaration of defiance sparked the wild card through a wondrous win.
In an astounding performance of grit, guts and absolutely audacious shotmaking, Andreescu fought off Angelique Kerber, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in to capture her first WTA title in a BNP Paribas Open thriller.
Turning exhaustion to elation, Andreescu flat flat on her back then kissed the court in joy after converting her fourth championship point.
The 18-year-old Canadian made history as the first wild card to win Indian Wells.
"I’m just so so thankful for this moment," Andreescu told ESPN's Mary Joe Fernandez afterward. "Today was one of the toughest matches I've ever played in front of such an amazing crowd. So incredible.
"No matter what the score anyone can come back even 5-love, 3-love, 6-love anything is possible and I think I proved that today."
Down a break at 2-3 in the final set, Andreescu used the coaching visit to reset and then roared through nine straight points and four of the final five games riding a wave of torrid forehand winners.
"In that moment, after I spoke to my coach, I just let it all out there," Andreescu said. "At that point I was really tired, so I went for my shots more, and that obviously worked. The next couple games I did the same thing. And I just fought till the end, because physically I wasn't feeling too well. I fought till the end. I managed to pull through."
Andreescu fired 44 winners in the match, including 37 forehand winners, becoming the youngest Indian Wells champion since a 17-year-old Serena Williams defeated Steffi Graf in the 1999 final.
It’s been a meteoric rise for Andreescu, who concluded 2018 ranked No. 178 and is projected to rise to No. 24 by seizing the spirited title and raising her record to 28-3, including ITF matches, in 2019.
Andreescu took the court with beige kinesiology tape wrapping her right shoulder—a sign of both her physical two hour, 12-minute semifinal victory over Elina Svitolina and her heavy workload in just her eighth WTA tournament.
Sharp court sense and shrewd skill shifting spins and pace make the Canadian a creative and unique player and unsettling presence for opponents. Scooping a forehand dropper that froze Kerber, Andreescu earned a fourth break point and break in the opening game on Kerber’s second double fault.
B
The first left-handed woman to contest the BNP Paribas Open final since Monica Seles in 1992 held to get on the board in the third game.
A relaxed intensity and natural instinct for injecting pace are Andreescu assets. Softening up the Wimbledon champion with slower, higher topspin, Andreescu stepped in and zapped a forehand winner then slid an ace holding for 4-2 with a firm “Come on!” By then the teenager had a 9 to 3 edge in winners.
For the third straight match, Kerber confronted a 2-4 deficit.
A twisting second serve that handcuffed Kerber followed by a hip-hugging second delivery helped the Canadian extend her lead to 5-3. Settling into her serve games, Kerber hit a series of forehands down the line then cracked a crosscourt backhand off the sideline holding in the ninth game.
Slamming a 113 mph serve to set up a smash brought the Canadian to set point. Kicking a sharp-angled second serve wide to create open space, Andreescu launched her body into a forehand stamping a one-set lead in style. Andreescu won 10 of 12 second-serve points and didn’t face a break point in an impressive 41-minute set.
Aiming to reset, Kerber vented to coach Rainer Schuettler after the opening set then came out hitting with more vigor holding to start the second set.
After Andreescu held in the second game, she swatted a stray ball that accidentally hit Kerber on the bounce. The frustrated German knocked the ball away in disgust then dug in with desire denying a pair of break points for 2-1.
Physical rallies on the warmest day of the tournament began to take a bit of a toll on Andreescu, who flattened a forehand down the line into net as Kerber broke for the first time in the fourth game.
The sturdy German is one of the fittest women on tour and channeled her energy into faster footwork. Taking short preparation steps Kerber surged through her third straight game stretching the lead to 4-1.
Reading her opponent’s patterns and anticipating quickly, Kerber won the longest exchange of the match for set point and continued to make running rallies count. When Andreescu netted a slice backhand, the three-time Grand Slam champion forced a third set after 88 minutes of play.
Working through a tricky hold in the third game, Andreescu took a medical time-out for treatment of her sore serving shoulder while Kerber stood on court taking shadow swings.
Kerber kept plugging away, driving the with depth impressing on the teenager each point would come at a premium. Drawing a cluster of errors, Kerber broke for 3-2.
“I’m so tired,” Andreescu confessed to her coach Sylvain Bruneau during the changeover. “I can barely move out there…I want this so bad.”
Credit a calm coach Bruneau for reinforcing the positives and exhorting his charge to keep fighting.
“It becomes a little bit mind over body,” Bruneau said. “We know how strong you are mentally and physically. You’re gonna need to push through it. You’re gonna need to stay strong under adversity.”
A recharged Andreescu came back firing dancing around a backhand she spun a short-angled forehand breaking back for 3-all as fans erupted.
Slashing forehands down the line the Canadian charged through a love hold for 4-3.
"That moment was everything to me," Andreescu said afterward. "He really helped me in that moment with such incredible words. The way he says things really it really gives me chills.
"So I'm glad I called him at that moment. And, yeah, at that point, I was really, really tired, but at that point I was, like, mind over matter. That's what helped me win today."
An energized Andreescu again drove that dagger forehand down the line breaking for 5-3 as her legs began stiffening suggesting impending cramping.
Two hours into her seventh match of the tournament, Andreescu was fighting battles on multiple fronts. She sprayed a forehand on her first championship point then sailed a forehand long on her second championship point.
Blasting a backhand, Andreescu drew a netted error for a third championship point but her drop shot lacked depth and a sprinting Kerber poked a controlled forehand down the line.
For perhaps the first time all day, Andreescu netted a drop shot then belted the ball high into the sky ruing opportunity lost as a gritty Kerber broke back for 4-5.
The former No. 1 kept fighting; on this day there was no stopping Andreescu who unleashed a barrage of forehand winners closing a spirited comeback in two hours, 18 minutes.