Sports

Andreescu reignites 2019 magic in second-round Wimbledon win

Published

1 year ago

July 8, 2023

LONDON, England — Bianca Andreescu looked like she was in full control of her Wimbledon second-round match against No.26 seed Anhelina Kalinina, before finding herself teetering on the edge of defeat.

And then she essayed a final plot twist, roaring back from 5-2 down in the third set for a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6[7] win in 2 hours and 46 minutes.

Feel familiar? It did to Andreescu.

“It really brought back good memories from 2019,” she said afterward. “I remember being down a lot in that year, coming back and fighting my way through. So I’m very pleased.”

Andreescu’s career took off in earnest that season. She started the year outside the Top 100 and ended it with titles at the US Open, Toronto and Indian Wells. Along the way, she solidified her M.O. as one of the game’s great battlers, playing 23 three-set matches and winning 18 of them.

The wild ride was Andreescu’s hallmark back then, and there were plenty of twists and turns Friday as the Canadian pulled off another one to make the third round of Wimbledon for the first time.

“All the bad bounces,” Andreescu said, recounting the most memorable aspects of the match. “All the let cords, the lucky let cords. They really, really pissed me off. That overhead I missed at 2-2, I think it was, to have an advantage.

“My first serve not working well. Some nice backhand down-the-line winners that I was hitting. Then looking at my box and everyone is completely red and having multiple heart attacks. So a few.”

It’s a fitting start to Andreescu’s new role as Netflix’s latest star. The crew of “Break Point” started following her at Wimbledon this week, and she’s certainly delivered must-watch television. But the larger question is whether she can recapture the magic of 2019 again. Since then, momentum has been elusive, and her ranking is down to No.50.

There has been a litany of ill-timed injuries, but also tweaks to a playing style that had been characterized by the range of options Andreescu had at her disposal. But after going through multiple coaches, she’s gone back to her roots. This year, she’s been working with former childhood coach Christophe Lambert.

“He understands the tennis game in general and also my game,” she said. “I feel that he gives me a lot of freedom as well to go based on my intuition, because that’s when I play my best.

“He’s very good at trusting me. That in turn forces me to continue to trust myself.”

Playing on instinct is key for Andreescu, she feels — but it’s something she feels she moved away from in recent years, prioritizing first-strike tennis over using her variety.

“I definitely went through different waves,” she said. “I feel like I always had that intuitive nature — even if somebody said to do this, I kind of go against it and just follow my heart. But I do feel like last year I went away a little bit from that. I started to just hit the ball and not maybe slice as much, or drop shot, or basically just play intuitively.

“Working now with Christophe, he gives me that freedom. With Sylvain [Bruneau, her coach during 2019], when I worked with him, he did give me a lot of that freedom as well. I did well with that. I’m really hoping that going back to that will help me get better results.”

Andreescu feels she could be building up a head of steam again — which is fortuitous timing, as she will face another player who thrives on instinct and variety in the third round. No.6 seed Ons Jabeur, was Andreescu’s practice partner ahead of Wimbledon and someone she admires on many levels.

“She has a lot of variety in her game,” Andreescu said. “She’s a fighter. She’s been through a lot in her career. If I play her, she’s not going to give it to me easy.

“I look up to her as well off the court. She speaks a lot about women’s tennis and women’s rights, which I appreciate very much.”

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Red Wings sign Raymond to 8-year, $64.6 million contract

Published

2 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.

Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.

The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.

Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.

Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.

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Cousins caps winning drive with TD pass to London as Falcons rally past Eagles 22-21

Published

2 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.

Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.

The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.

Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.

Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.

The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.

And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.

Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.

Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.

Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.

Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.

Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.

With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.

Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.

Questionable call

Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.

Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.

Running wild

Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.

Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.

Foles honored

Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”

Injuries

The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).

Up next

Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.

The Eagles play at New Orleans on Sunday.

___

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Fernandez and Dabrowski headline Canadian lineup for Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Published

14 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.

The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.

Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.

Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.

“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”

Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.

Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.

Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.

Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.

Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.

Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

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