Weeks 10 & 11 - WTA Premier Mandatory ($9.035M) - Indian Wells, CA, USA - Hard

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Weeks 10 & 11 - WTA Premier Mandatory ($9.035M) - Indian Wells, CA, USA - Hard

flamingowings · All-time great

Andreescu won in 3, coming from a break behind in the 3rd.

Kerber has no titles at this level, surprisingly.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Great match with it not being obvious who was going to win at any given point. Really enjoyed it, especially the variety of shots and tactics Andreescu played.

ROSAMUND · Futures level

Back in 2015 Katie Swan was ranked world no 3 junior whilst Bianca Andreescu was no 4 and Marketa Vondrousova was no2. Even with the Murray family influence Katie is still in the foothills of womens senior tennis.However Dalma Galfi who was no1 has also struggled,but she played a close match with Katie Boulter in the Fed Cup.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

As a younger junior, Katie S seemed to feel the pressure of being one of the 'chosen ones'. (Not surprising it was certainly a bit of a pressure cooker...) and often tightened up in matches she 'should' win or when playing abroad or when LTA bods were gathered round the court. When she moved to the US with her parents, she seemed to lose her inhibitions in this regard and her talent came through as shown by her great performance in the AO juniors. I know she has had injuries but I'm also not sure she has been so loose and relaxed on the match court since being based back in the UK and with more of a spotlight on her. She is a lovely girl and has a very sweet and gentle personality and I do wonder if the UK is the right place for her to be based. I've no idea what specifically caused her injuries, but mental tightness can make a player a bit injury prone.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

I remember watching Andreescu at WTA Washington in July 2017 when she beat Mladenovic (who was ranked high, but about to go on a huge losing streak) and Giorgi and I remember being quite excited as there wasn't too many teens on the main tour making an impact (Ostapenko had just turned 20, ha) - much different story now mind. She didn't really do much after that and did have injury issues throughout 2018, before ending the year with some relative ITF success. This rise has come so quick (26-3) and it's almost unheard of.

Who knows what will happen with Katie - Andreescu's rise is very unusual and it would be wrong / very silly to expect similar, but I just don't really see anything too stand out with her (Katie). She's 20 next week, so the same age as the likes of Kalinskaya, Samsonova, In-Albon, Sebov, Thandi etc. all ranked in and around her, most of whom won't receive the WC opportunities Katie gets. You can't expect every promising jr to go on and do big things, but she does seem a million miles away from the younger Andreescu, Yastremska, Anisimova, Swiatek, Potapova etc. and that's not mentioning those younger still, like McNally (100k title), Tauson (60k title), Lopatetska (3 x 25k titles) who you could argue have already done more more in the pro game in minimal ITF tournaments than Katie has in her pro career and all look destined to pass her soon.

Perhaps The O might have a point about location, but whatever it is, she does seem to have stalled a fair bit, obviously not helped by niggling issues since the US Open. I hope she can push towards the top 100 by the end of the year, but I'm not too hopeful.

Edit - I am aware that she did reach a 25k(+H) semi final the other week, so that's at least a step in the right direction and not all doom and gloom.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Monday 18th of March 2019 07:28:47 PM

indiana · Tennis legend

In a repeat of the Indian Wells final Andreescu again beat Kerber in 3 sets ( 6-1 final set ), this time at the L32 stage.