US Open women’s final: A match of generations
The stage is set for the ladies at the US Open as both Serena Williams and Bianca Andreescu go for their own slice of history on Saturday.
Serena Williams won her first grand slam in 1999, at the age of 17 at Flushing Meadows. She is now gunning for slam number 24, two decades later, at the very same venue, to tie Margaret Court’s overall tally of slams. Williams already owns the Open Era record with 23.
Canada’s Bianca Andreescu was born one year after Serena won her maiden slam and is into her first grand slam final. In fact, it’s been a full year of firsts for the young megawatt talent. She was the first qualifier to make the final at Auckland. She didn’t win, but the feat signaled a new star on the horizon in big flashing lights.
Think about it. Auckland had been her first WTA tournament, after playing on the ITF tour the year before, and she had to win three preliminary matches before the main draw ones. But did she wilt in the final to Julia Goerges? No, she fought and even got a set off of her. It was quite a stunning debut.
And the entire year has been exactly like that for Andreescu. Amazing. Andreescu did make her next final, this time a Challenger event, and won. She followed that up with her first Masters Premiere win at Indian Wells, shockingly defeating Angelique Kerber in three sets.
The 19-year-old thrilled by making another Masters final, in Canada, in a high-stakes match where she faced Serena Williams for the first time. The 37-year-old legend suffered from back spasms and ‘Bibi’ Andreescu collected her second Masters trophy after the 23-time slam champion retired from the match. And now she’s barreled her way into her first slam final.
“If someone told me a year ago that I would be in the finals of the US Open this year, I would have told them, ‘You’re crazy,'” said Andreescu, after dominating Belinda Bencic in the semifinal, according to ESPN.
The Serena Williams Andreescu will be facing on Saturday, however, is fully fit, and looking as determined as ever to carve out her slice of history. She’s made three finals since coming back from a difficult birth. Those Finals include the one last year, where Naomi Osaka achieved her maiden slam during a controversial match. In contrast, Serena has been pretty serene and even avenged her loss to Osaka at the Canadian hard-court tournament.
“Obviously there’s a lot of things that I’ve learned in the past,” Williams told The New York Times, via Yahoo. “But I just have to go out there and, above all, most of all, just stay relaxed.”
There’s so much on the line for the great tennis champion. Andreescu has fight, confidence in spades, and most importantly, a stalwart belief she can win anything. How else would you describe her meteoric rise this year? But can she prevent Serena Williams’s date with destiny? There are no health issues stopping her power this time, and it will be an intense battle until the very end.
The final will be a fascinating match of belief and wills. But above all, lots of history for each.
The women’s final will take place on Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET, viewable on ESPN.