A superb comeback fortnight for Bianca Andreescu, where she showed off the form that brought her great success during the 2019 season, came to an abrupt end as the Canadian retired due to injury while trailing 6-3, 4-0 against World No.1 Ashleigh Barty in the Miami final.
“It was a great tournament,” Andreescu said, in her post-match press conference. “I really fought through very tough matches. My body seemed to be good up until today. I think it was just, like, a freak accident.”
A trip and stumble at 2-0 affected Andreescu’s foot, causing her to retire two games later in the first meeting between the two Grand Slam champions, who exchanged kind words at the net afterwards.
Andreescu recalled: “[Barty] said, ‘It was great playing. I’m so sorry. I hope you get better, and I know we’re going to be seeing each other a lot on the other side of the net.’ Super sweet.”
It was an unfortunate occurrence for the already injury-plagued Andreescu, who had to make the difficult decision to stop her first WTA final since 2019.
“No one wants to end a tournament retiring, especially in the finals,” Andreescu said. “But things happen, and I want to look ahead in my career. I’m only 20. I’m not trying to risk anything right now.”
“I’m proud of myself for that because I’m super resilient,” the Canadian added. “For me to do that today took a lot.”
Despite the injury, Andreescu had already proven that she was back in top-tier form throughout the fortnight, gritting her way through the draw with sublime aggression and determination.
“I’m definitely the type of person to wear her emotions on her sleeve,” Andreescu said. “I’m not afraid of that. To me, it’s more of a strength because I’m being who I am.”
“I think that shows a lot of people that they can do the same, because a lot of the times people say, ‘Oh, if you show your emotions it’s a weakness,’ but to me it’s not. It’s how I express myself. I’m a very expressive person. It’s helped me win. Like, that’s how I win on top of a lot of other things.”
Proving that, Andreescu won four three-set matches in a row en route to the final, including a recovery from 4-2 down in the final set to beat Maria Sakkari in a late-night semifinal.
“It feels like I played three tournaments in one with all the time I had on court, which is awesome considering I haven’t been playing a lot of tournaments over the last couple of months,” Andreescu said.
After missing the entire 2020 season due to injury, Andreescu returned to WTA action in the Aussie swing earlier this year, where she went 4-2.
“I think it was good that I got matches under my belt in Australia, because that really helped me, a part of what helped me do well this week,” Andreescu said. “I just continue trusting the process, and that’s really helped me this week. I mean, I got to the finals, so I’m going to continue like that.”
With Miami as her first tournament on North American soil since her run to the 2019 US Open title, Andreescu now holds a 33-3 record on that continent since the beginning of 2019, when she also picked up titles in Indian Wells and at the Rogers Cup.
“It’s nice to have all of this under my belt,” Andreescu said. “I’m feeling confident. Sometimes my game is not always going to be there, but I clutch it out during those times, I’ll figure it out. And sometimes I’ll be on court and I’ll feel totally great.
“But that’s just a challenge of playing sports in general. And I’m here for it, and I want to be here for it for a long time.”
Watch Bianca Andreescu’s miracle shot against Muguruza at Miami 2021
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
