An 18-year-old Canadian has taken the tennis world by storm by beating both Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki in 24 hours
- Bianca Andreescu, 18, has the tennis world abuzz after enjoying a giant-killing run at the Auckland Open this week.
- The Canadian teenager has beaten Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams in back-to-back matches, and will now contest the tournament semi-final on Saturday.
- Andreescu has won over the Auckland tennis fans, captured the attention of the worldwide tennis press, and believes she can go all the way to the championship title.
Bianca Andreescu is in the middle of a giant-killing run at the 2019 Auckland Open in Auckland, New Zealand.
Andreescu walloped Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets on Thursday, before a come-from-behind victory over Venus Williams just 24 hours later.
What makes Andreescu's triumphs more impressive is that the 18-year-old is ranked as the 152nd best player in the sport, but has managed to knockout two former world number ones from one of the first events of the new Women's Tennis Association (WTA) season. And she has done so having only just overcome a cold and a back injury.
When Andreescu won her second match point against Williams on centre court on Friday she dropped to her knees, regained her composure to shake hands with Williams and the umpire, before making a cross gesture over her forehead and chest and finally saluting the heavens.
Watch her winning moment here:
"I believe that anything is possible but tonight I think I did the impossible, I don't even know what to say," Andreescu said in an on-court, post-match interview, as published by the WTA.
"My goal is always to qualify, maybe get a couple rounds in but now I've beaten a couple top players. I just believe in myself to the end, I fought, I really enjoyed myself. It's really a special feeling," Andreescu added.
When asked if she could go all the way, she said: "With the support of you guys, I think I can do it."
Andreescu's victories have left the tennis world abuzz.
Mark Roe of Canada's TSN show SportsCentre tweeted that Andreescu is on an "incredible run." Chris Chang, a reporter for 1 News NZ at TVNZ called Andreescu a "giant killer" who has developed a habit of dumping big names out of the Auckland Open.
And, finally, George Bellshaw, a tennis journalist for the British newspaper and online publication Metro, said Andreescu could see her WTA rank rise from 152 to "at least 114."
Andreescu faces Hsieh Su-wei in the tournament's semi-final on Saturday and, if successful, she will challenge either Viktoria Kuzmova or the reigning champion Julia Gorges for the Auckland Open title.