Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ontario has reached the final of the 2021 Miami Open. Andreescu, who was the eighth seed, defeated Maria Sakkari of Greece in three grueling sets, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, in a match that lasted two hours and 42 minutes, and did not end until well after 1 a.m. ET.
This was the fourth straight time in the Miami Open that Andreescu needed to play the full three sets. She previously beat 2019 French Open semifinalist Amanda Anisimova of the United States 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in the third round, 2016 French Open champion and 2017 Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round, and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Andreescu beat Sakkari, the 23rd seed, with grit and resiliency. Late in the match, it looked like Sakkari was in control after Andreescu double-faulted and had her serve broken. However, with Sakkari serving for the match at 6-5, Andreescu broke Sakkari back, and forced a third set tie-break. There, Andreescu won 7-4.
In the women’s final on Saturday, Andreescu will face world number one Ashleigh Barty of Australia. This will be the first time ever that Andreescu will have played the 2019 French Open champion. Barty defeated Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, the fifth seed, and the 2019 Wimbledon and United States Open semifinalist, 6-3, 6-2 in the other semi-final on Thursday.
The Miami Open will be Andreescu’s fifth career WTA Final. She previously lost to Julia Goerges of Germany, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the 2019 Auckland Open Final. That was followed by 2019 wins over Angelique Kerber of Germany in Indian Wells, and two straight wins over Serena Williams of the United States at the Rogers Cup and the United States Open.
Andreescu also becomes the third Canadian woman to advance to a WTA Final in 2021. At the Abierto Zapopan Tournament in Mexico in March, Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal, Quebec lost to Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 7-5. Then a week later, Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec defeated Viktorija Golubec of Switzerland, 6-1, 6-4, at the Monterrey Open in Mexico for her first career WTA title.
