Signing up enhances your TCE experience with the ability to save items to your personal reading list, and access the interactive map.
Create AccountMississauga’s Bianca Andreescu became the first Canadian tennis player to win the Rogers Cup since Faye Urban won as women’s singles champion in 1969. Facing Serena Williams in the finals, Andreescu went up 3-1 in the first set before Williams withdrew from the match due to back spasms.
Less than a month after becoming the first Canadian in 50 years to win the Rogers Cup, Romanian Canadian tennis player Bianca Andreescu became the first Canadian tennis player ever to win a grand slam singles title when she defeated Serena Williams 6–3, 7–5 to win the US Open. Andreescu received US$3.85 million for the victory and moved up to No. 5 in the WTA rankings. On 15 September, more than 10,000 people gathered in her hometown of Mississauga for a #SheTheNorth rally. Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie gave Andreescu a key to the city and announced that a street would be named in her honour. Mayor John Tory declared that 16 September 2019 was Bianca Andreescu day in the City of Toronto.
The Rogers Cup is the third-oldest tennis tournament in the world behind Wimbledon (founded in 1877) and the US Open (founded in 1880). Founded in 1881 as the Canadian National Championships, it included women’s tournaments beginning in 1892 and remained an amateur event until 1967. It began admitting professionals and became known as the Canadian Open in 1968, when it also introduced prize money into the men’s competition. Prize money for the women’s tournament was introduced in 1973. In 2018, the total purses for the men’s and women’s tournaments were $5,939,970 and $2,820,000, respectively. Past champions have included Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Serena Williams, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Notable Canadian competitors have included Carling Bassett-Seguso, Helen Kelesi, Eugenie Bouchard, Daniel Nestor, Sébastien Lareau, Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov. Robert Bédard was the last Canadian men’s singles champion (1958). In 2019, Bianca Andreescu became the first Canadian to win the tournament since Faye Urban won as women’s singles champion in 1969.
Bianca Vanessa Andreescu, tennis player (born 16 June 2000 in Mississauga, Ontario). Romanian Canadian tennis player Bianca Andreescu won 19 junior singles titles and 13 junior doubles tournaments between 2012 and 2017. She was named Tennis Canada’s Junior Female Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016. In 2018, she was crowned Female Player of the Year, Female Singles Player of the Year and Junior Female Player of the Year. She turned professional in 2017. On 11 August 2019, Andreescu became the first Canadian since Faye Urban in 1969 to win the Rogers Cup. Andreescu then won the US Open on 7 September 2019, making her the first Canadian singles tennis player to win a grand slam title. On 9 December 2019, she became the first tennis player to win the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s athlete of the year.
Félix Auger-Aliassime, tennis player (born 8 August 2000 in Montreal, QC). Félix Auger-Aliassime is one of the world’s rising tennis stars. In 2015, he became the youngest player ever to win a professional match and the youngest player ever to reach the Top 800 in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings. In 2015, he and Denis Shapovalov won Canada’s first Junior Davis Cup title, as well as the junior boys doubles title at the US Open. By the age of 20, Auger-Aliassime had reached the final of five ATP Tour events. During the 2019 ATP Tour season, he rose 91 places in the world rankings, from No. 108 to No. 17.
