Andreescu makes history with win over Karolina Pliskova at Rogers Cup

On Friday, her fourth straight three-setter, Bianca Andreescu dug deep to get past Karolina Pliskova, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4, in the Rogers Cup quarterfinals in Toronto.

"I've been practicing a lot on trying to figure out what to do in these kind of circumstances," Andreescu said. "I've had many opportunities to try different things, and I finally found something that clicked for me. And when I step out on the court, I'm fearless. I show no mercy no matter who I play, and I think that's showing a lot."

The 19-year-old becomes the first Canadian woman to reach her home tournament’s semifinals since Faye Urban won the event in 1969. Her quarterfinal victory gave her a perfect 6-0 record against Top 10 players.

In the first set, everything Andreescu touched turned to gold as she won six straight games to hand Pliskova a bagel. She broke the Czech three times and never faced a break point. After a changeover powwow with her coach Conchita Martinez, Pliskova began to find her footing to go up 5-0. After handing back one of the breaks, the No. 3 seed was able to level up.

Andreescu is playing her first event since retiring from the Roland Garros second round. (Getty Images)

In the decider, the two went toe-to-toe until the ninth game, where Indian Wells champion Andreescu stepped things up to earn the first break of the set. Four points later, she set up a semifinal clash with unseeded 20-year-old Sofia Kenin. The American rallied from four games down in the first set to upset No. 6-seeded Elina Svitolina, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Andreescu and Kenin have played each other two times before–both times in 2019. Kenin won in Acapulco and Andreescu got revenge in Miami. The Canadian, who's on the comeback from a shoulder injury, withdrew from their second-round showdown at the French Open.

"It's great to see the young generation doing well on the WTA," said Andreescu. "I played her twice this year already, so I know what to expect from her. She is a fighter. She gets to a lot of balls. So I'm going to go out there and just give my best performance."