After tennis great Serena Williams bowed out of the Rogers Cup on Sunday due to an injury, her 19-year-old challenger Bianca Andreescu put down her racket and dashed over to console her.
“I made sure to give her a big hug and I told her that she’s a beast and I know she’s going to bounce back very quick,” Andreescu told CTV News Channel, hours after she became the first Canadian to win the tournament in 50 years.
“That’s the first time we actually spoke,” she said. “It’s not the way I wanted it to happen but it is what it is. She said a lot of nice things about me as a tennis player and as a person so I’m definitely going to keep that close to my heart.”
Williams, 37, was impressed by Andreescu’s sportsmanship, calling her an “old soul.”
"She's wiser than her, what is she? Nineteen years old?" Williams told reporters after the match in Toronto. "She definitely doesn't seem like a 19 year old in her words, on court and her game, her attitude, her actions."
Andreescu told CTV News Channel that she was planning to spend Sunday night celebrating with her parents.
“Hopefully I can continue with the momentum I have right now going into the U.S. Open,” she said.
