BIANCA VANESSA ANDREESCU - OTA PLAYER OF THE MONTH

Wild Card to Runner-Up in Gatineau

Story and Photo by Gavin Murphy

Bianca Vanessa Andreescu entered the 2015 Gatineau National Bank Challenger tennis tournament as a wild card on July 28 and left as runner-up on August 2. The 15 year old from Mississauga played some of her best tennis ever en route to the final of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Pro Circuit tournament before losing to top seed Alexa Glash of the United States 6-4, 6-3.

Prior to the finals the right-handed Andreescu, coached by former French professional player Nathalie Tauziat, was undefeated at the pro level after winning four straight matches in Gatineau. She became the second Canadian to reach the Gatineau finals following Françoise Abanda of Montreal who was runner up in 2014’s inaugural tournament. Although losing to 25 year old Glash, ranked 145 in the world as of August 2015, Andreescu had an impressive run in Gatineau and earned her first 30 Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking points.

The US$25,000 challenger tournament is played outdoors on the hard courts at Parc de I’ile in Gatineau, Quebec, across the Ottawa River from the nation’s capital. The official ball is the Wilson US Open Regular Duty.

The ITF, based in London England, is the governing body of world tennis and the ITF women’s Pro Circuit provides entry level tournaments enabling players to reach the WTA tour. The circuit annually features some 500+ tournaments in 65 countries worldwide and currently has six prize money levels: US$10,000, US$15,000, US$25,000, US$50,000, US$75,000 and US$100,000. The WTA singles ranking list released at the end of 2014 showed that all but two players had, at some point in their career, competed on the ITF Pro Circuit.

Player Profile:

Home town: Mississauga     Club: Tennis Canada NTC   Style: Right Handed (Two-handed backhand)

Bio: Bianca is in the NTC program at the Aviva Centre and is trained by Tennis Canada's coaches.  She is 15 years old and competes in the OTA and National U16 and U18 divisions. This summer Bianca won the U18 national championship in singles and doubles. Highlights of her young career include winning the U16 Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships in girls singles. She is currently ranked #1 provincially in U16 and U18. She is ranked #2 and #3 in National rankings for U16 and U18 respectively.