Mere hours after her maiden Grand Slam triumph, Bianca Andreescu was back on the clock, thinking about when the words "US Open champion" would feel at home on her resume.
"After [winning] Indian Wells, it took a couple of weeks to sink in. After [winning] Toronto, it took a couple of days. Hopefully, tomorrow, I can finally realize that it actually happened," she told reporters in an intimate roundtable in a nearly-empty US Open player lounge late Saturday night.
"I was going to say I was more shocked by winning Indian Wells than by winning this, but at the same time, this is a Grand Slam. Right now feels like, ‘What the hell is happening?’"
Arriving in New York as one of the WTA's hottest players, Andreescu running a different kind of table—the one that sees her leave New York with her first major title after winning seven matches—might have only been a surprise if you weren't paying attention.
During last year's US Open, she was sitting at home, injured, after losing in the first round of qualifying. Now the Canadian has vaulted into superstar status just 12 months later.
She improved to a perfect 8-0 against the WTA Top 10 after her victory over Serena Williams in Saturday's final, a season in which she's posted a 45-4 overall record, but also missed nearly five months with a shoulder injury.
"In my short career, I’ve been through a lot, injury-wise, and those moments weren’t easy for me because I just kept getting injured. At one point, I didn’t have much faith in myself," she said.
"I have an amazing team around me, including my parents," the teen continued. "I think my parents are my biggest inspiration and biggest motivations because they believed in me since Day 1. Without them, I don’t think I could have made it through those periods like I did.
"Going through tough situations is a part of life. It’s not always going to be butterflies and rainbows. I just try to embrace them as much as I could; I tried to learn different things about myself, and how I can get better, both as a player and a person. I really believed good times were ahead because when you believe that, all those tough times are worth it."
Battling through adversity is not just something the Canadian had to do off the court, either. With a 13-3 record in three-set matches in 2019, her final-set victories rank her in the Top 10 on the WTA, and a three-hour, 28-minute victory over Kiki Bertens in Toronto is the longest on the tour for match length.
"When I play my game, I think nobody really likes it, because I play a lot different than other players on tour," she said. "I like to change up the rhythm, and I’ve always been like that, so I’ve been improving it. That’s what I’ve been doing this whole year. I think that’s why I’ve been doing really well."
"My confidence is sky-rocketing right now. I just don’t want to take anything for granted because there’s going to be weeks where you’re going to lose. Hopefully, I can keep the momentum going."
The teenager will also tie a Canadian women's record for highest singles ranking when she rises to world No. 5 on Monday, and she has three of the sport's biggest trophies on her mantle—all before her 20th birthday.
But before she chases her next one, she joked, she'll need to make sure they're all facing the right way.
"I was so clueless," she laughed, recalling the on-court presentation, when she wasn't sure which side was the front. "There were two sides: the side with the names, and then the side with something else. I just wanted to make sure, so I didn’t look like an idiot."
By the conclusion of her post-match press conference, however, she showed she's a quick study. It was at that moment that Andreescu's coach, Sylvain Bruneau, was presented with his own version of the Open trophy by the USTA and the pair stood, side-by-side, for a photo opportunity.
"I'm not used to this, holding trophies," he mused.
"Well," his charge retorted as she posed, "get used to it."
