Grand slam glory & beyond: what's on the line for Bianca Andreescu?

Bianca Andreescu has taken the tennis world by storm this year, not just winning the first two WTA titles of her career at two of the biggest events of the year—the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Rogers Cup in Toronto—but now reaching her first Grand Slam final at the US Open.

Here’s what’s at stake for the 19-year-old as she plays Serena Williams for her first Grand Slam title:

She’s trying to become the first Canadian player ever to win a Grand Slam singles title. Before this, only two Canadian players, male or female, had even reached a Grand Slam final: Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic. Bouchard lost the 2014 Wimbledon final to Petra Kvitova, while Raonic finished runner-up at Wimbledon in 2016, falling to Andy Murray. Andreescu’s the first Canadian player, man or woman, ever to reach the US Open final.

She would be the first teenager to win a Grand Slam title in 13 years. The last teenager to win a major was Maria Sharapova, who was 19 when she won the 2006 US Open. The last teenager on the men’s side was Rafael Nadal, who actually turned 19 during his run to the 2005 French Open title.

She would also become the first player born in the 2000s to win a Grand Slam title. Andreescu, who was born on June 16, 2000, is already the first player born in the 2000s, man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam final. Before this tournament, the furthest any player born in the 2000s had gone at a major was the semifinals. American Amanda Anisimova went that far at the French Open this year.

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She’s trying to become the first player in the Open Era to win the US Open in their main draw debut. Andreescu is only the third woman in the Open Era to even reach the US Open final in their main draw debut. Pam Shriver reached the US Open final on her first try in 1978, falling to Chris Evert, and Venus Williams did the same on her first try in 1997, finishing runner-up to Martina Hingis.

She’s trying to tie the record for fastest woman in the Open Era to win their first Grand Slam title. Monica Seles won her first Grand Slam title at the 1990 French Open, which was the fourth Grand Slam she ever played —the fewest Grand Slams played before winning a first Grand Slam title for a woman in the Open Era. Andreescu’s playing the fourth Grand Slam of her career here…

She’s already going to break the Top 10 with the final, but she’ll be Top 5 with the title. The Canadian is already projected to rise from No. 15 to No. 9 by reaching the US Open final, but she’ll rise to No. 5 if she wins the title, tying her with Bouchard for highest-ranked Canadian woman ever. She wouldn’t be far off the highest-ranked Canadian player ever, male or female—Raonic got to No.3.

She’s trying to maintain her perfect record against Top 10 players. Andreescu has played her first seven matches against Top 10 players this year and she’s won them all, beating Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina, Angelique Kerber (twice), Kiki Bertens, Karolina Pliskova and Serena Williams (by retirement). Can she make it 8-0 on Saturday?

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