The athlete
Bianca Andreescu is the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam
BY PATRICIA HY-BOULAIS, FORMER TENNIS CHAMPION
What Bianca Andreescu is doing — at 19 winning the Rogers Cup, winning the US Open — is absolutely mind-boggling because she just blew everything up.
I know Bianca quite well because she and my daughter used to travel together when they were both playing a few years ago. Obviously, she was different from the rest of the pack.
She could see the court, which sets her apart. And as she travelled, I noticed she loved reading. And not trash, but insightful books that challenge the brain. She wanted to know more about the mental side of things.
When a tournament was done, she wanted to go out and play some more. She was asking everyone, “Let’s go hit, let’s go hit.”
It wasn’t just that she had a passion for tennis. It was just pure love.
I was commentating at the Rogers Cup so I was watching her and it just sent chills in my body. I could feel how she was feeling, the ecstasy out there. She just handled it so well. And now she has the world on fire. Incredible story. When you have that work ethic in line with the love of what you’re doing, you have the ability to go through the pain that is along the journey. I truly believe that is where Bianca is, lining up her love with her work ethic. And that’s what she can teach young people who are in tennis for the wrong reasons: It’s the love of what she’s doing that makes her who she is.
She is on the journey and she is excelling.
