Bianca Andreescu’s former coach reflects on tennis champ’s early ambitions

Globalnews.ca
Sept. 10, 2019
Shallima Maharaj

After a precedent-setting victory against veteran tennis superstar Serena Williams, Bianca Andreescu‘s meteoric climb continued Monday.

The Mississauga-native, who now resides in Thornhill, was ranked outside the Women’s Tennis Association’s top 200 this time last year. She now sits at number five, marking a career top 10 debut.

As the 19-year-old continued her media tour south of the border, the jubilation over her win continued to the north.

Peter Liu is a tennis coach with the Ontario Racquet Club in Mississauga. He worked with Andreescu early on in her career for about a year.

“She was young, a really hard-working girl and very determined,” recalled Liu.

Even after the U.S. Open winner left the club, he followed the progression of her career and said he is proud of her awe-inspiring accomplishments.

“I often asked her, ‘What’s your dream? What do you want to be?’ And she’d often give me a very big answer, ‘I want to win tournaments. I want to win Grand Slams, I want to be playing at Wimbledon one day, the U.S. Open one day.'”

Andreescu has been vocal about the power of meditation and visualization. She was first introduced to the practice by her mother as a young adolescent.

With a growing list of accolades under her belt, the tennis star is poised to receive another honour from Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie. She said she plans on gifting Andreescu the key to the city.

While Celebration Square has the capacity to welcome approximately 30,000 fans, an official rally has yet to be signed off on.

“Of course, some of it is contingent on her own schedule, when is she coming back to Canada? And what else has she got planned in her life before we all get to celebrate with her?” Crombie told Global News.

“And our council has some ideas, and on Wednesday we’re coming together and I think we’ll put the motion in place.”

Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said in a statement that many in the city are proud of Andreescu’s win.

“She is a remarkable role model who demonstrates exceptional work ethic and talent. We join communities around the world in congratulating Bianca on her record-setting accomplishment,” he wrote.