Wednesday, August 14, 2019

2019 CANADA: Rafa Wins 35th Masters Title; Bianca Wins Canada As Serena Sobs


19-year-old Bianca Andreescu became the first Canadian woman in 50 years to win her country's Canadian Open tennis championship when Serena Williams retired down 1-3 in the championship match on Sunday. Williams said she had had back spasms the night before and that "she couldn't move" and started sobbing on the court. Later, she went to Cincinnati for the Western & Southern Financial Open tournament but withdrew from her match there. Presumably the next time we will see Serena will be at the 2019 S Open which starts August 26. Andreescu is now #14 in the rankings, achieving the amazing feat of having her ranking be less than her age in record fashion. he has won her first 7 matches against Top 10 opponents. Many expect her to be in the Top 10 soon herself, and she is considered (by some) to be "in the mix" for the US Open. Naomi Osaka (despite losing in straight sets to Serena) regained the World #1 ranking due to Karolina Pliskova's loss to Andreescu early in the tournament.

Rafael Nadal won his 5th Rogers Cup title in Montreal, demolishing Daniil Medvedev 6-3 6-0 in about 70 minutes. Amazingly, it was the first time in his career that Nadal had defended a hard-court (non-clay court) title, since he had won the 2018 Rogers Cup in Toronto last year. It's Nadal's 35th Masters series shield, increasing his lead over his rivals (Novak Djokovic has 33 and Roger Federer has 28). Nadal is the first player to win 2 Masters titles this year (having also won in Rome), while Federer won Miami and Djokovic won Madrid.

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