BIANCA Andreescu is 19 years old and Daniil Medvedev 23. Make way for the future of world tennis.
But Andreescu seems to be in a rush to arrive ahead of Medvedev?
Quite obviously, yes.
She proved that last weekend when she won the US Open.
And in achieving the feat—spectacularly I must say—Andreescu incredibly needed only two sets. As though she had not faced a finals foe as formidable as Serena Williams.
For, the way she beat Williams, it had all the trappings of a championship clash, with Andreescu appearing like a long-established performer on the grandest stage of the sport.
Did it ever occur to Andreescu at any point of the match that she was battling someone with 23 majors across her name?
That she had not a single Slam crown in her bio-data, thereby virtually listing her as a mere freak of nature for having reached, shockingly, this far?
But then, there she was, not just stroking her way to a stunning victory but to authoring an unbelievable stab at history as well by nailing her first major in only her first Finals appearance.
Was this fact or fiction?
A fairy tale all over again, as in Cinderella reappearing on a night when practically all odds are stacked against Andreescu?
She was a mere qualifier, reappearing as the nondescript who got bundled out in last year’s US Open qualifying at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Now here she is, pocketing the last Slam of the year and making herself the first Canadian to win the fourth major of the year.
Talk about fantasy, and there’s Andreescu for you. Hands down.
And Medvedev?
Well, he could be headed to a possible stardom, too, given that he had extended Rafael Nadal to five lung-smashing sets before yielding the US Open men’s crown on Sunday.
But while the reedy Russian lost in his first majors final, there’s nothing to be ashamed of as he valiantly fought a certified legend in Nadal.
In the end, Nadal won his 19th Slam in style but for Medvedev, earning the crowd’s elusive admiration for gallantry, won hearts.
The heirs of world tennis are here.
Changing of the guards