Wray Morrison: Bianca’s firsts

Bianca Andreescu’s mark on women’s tennis is yet to be determined. A year ago, the majority of Canadians had no idea who she was, and those who did likely didn’t pronounce her name properly.

Now the 19-year-old has a shot at becoming the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam title. She is facing a legend in the sport in Saturday’s US Open final. Serena Williams won her first US Open before Andreescu was born.

Andreescu’s time in the spotlight this spring has been refreshing to watch. She has gone through so many career firsts and, as a result, shows her youthful exuberance time and time again. There have been post-match interviews, after she has come out of her competitive zone, when she’s almost in shock at what she has accomplished.

There is every reason to believe that we will be seeing a lot of Andreescu in the future, but if for some reason we don’t, it has been great to see this 19-year-old go for this ride of a lifetime for the first time.