By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday March 31, 2021
Bianca Andreescu is back in the thick of things on the WTA Tour. And the spectacle is pretty grand indeed. The mega-talented Canadian has reeled off four consecutive wins for the first time since her 2019 US Open title run, and she has been grinding out victories with a champion’s savoir faire in Miami.
On Wednesday evening the Canadian found herself in a titanic struggle with in-form Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo, and battled through much turbulence to achieve a satisfying 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours and 35 minutes. Andreescu, seeded eighth in Miami, book a semifinal with Maria Sakkari of Greece.
Andreescu was locked in a struggle with the Spaniard from start to finish. Sorribes Tormo, who claimed the Guadalajara title earlier in March, is playing some metronomic tennis and she pushed Andreescu to bring the best out of herself.
“I know what I'm capable of, and this doesn't surprise me because I know that I'm a really good fighter,” Andreescu told reporters after the match. “I never give up, even through adversity. I'm super proud with how I handled it tonight because it wasn't easy. She's a really tough player. I'm sure we're going to be seeing more of her.”
Andreescu rallied from a double break down in the opening set to snag it, 6-4, but she wouldn’t race away from Sorribes Tormo from there. Instead the Spaniard dragged her into a brutal struggle on the slow-playing surface, stretching out rallies and making Andreescu work extremely hard to finish point on her terms.
There were a total of 35 break points in the match, and at one point seven consecutive breaks, from the final game of the opening set through 3-3 in set two, when Sorribes Tormo finally held for 4-3.
Andreescu told reporters that she found it extremely difficult to deal with the game of Sorribes Tormo due to her ability to produce trajectory and depth, but without the pace.
The Spaniard made the advantage stand up. Andreescu didn’t hold serve at all in the middle set, lost it 6-3, and fell behind by a game in set three (on serve). But she was determined to get back on track in the decider, and did just that to level at 1-all.
“She doesn't give you pace at all,” Andreescu explained to reporters. “Those high, heavy balls, you really have to generate your own. That consists of a lot of leg power, arm power, you're putting your all into it. Because if you just give, like, a ball with nothing on it, she's going to take advantage of that.”
Andreescu said her ability to recognize the difficulties she was having, and make minor adjustments, made the difference for her.
“I thought her ball would be a bit more heavy and deep, but like I said, you really have to generate your own power,” she said. “I feel like I was going for too much at the start, but then I figured it out and I changed my game plan basically. I adjusted. … And then the match was just super up and down, like at one point she was on fire, and then I was on fire, and it just kept going like that. It could have been either one of our matches.”
The Canadian said her fighting spirit was the trump card that eventually pulled her through.
Another two holds took the pair to 2-all in set three, which was when Andreescu turned up her game to match the importance of the situation. She broke through critically for 3-2, and again for 5-2. Sorribes Tormo fought valiantly from there, and pulled closer with a break for 3-5, but it would be Andreescu who broke to seal the marathon affair in the next game.
“For me, the main thing today was fighting harder than her." she said. "I say that a lot, but I know that she is an incredible fighter, so that was the main goal and I did that."