TENNIS NEWS - Canadian teenage sensation Bianca Andreescu pulled off a Miami Open great escape by fighting back from a set and match point down to beat a dazed Irina-Camelia Begu 4-6 7-6(2) 6-2 in the first round on Thursday.
The 18-year-old who stunned the tennis world last week by winning her first career title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells raised eyebrows again with a gritty and spirited comeback that underscored her status as a rising star.
Only three women – Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka – have completed the 'Sunshine Double', winning both Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back, and Begu had looked ready to make sure Andreescu would not add her name to that list.
With 28-year-old Romanian Begu a set up and leading 5-1 in the second the Canadian appeared headed for an early exit but refused to go down quietly.
Fighting off a match point at 5-2, the steely nerved teenager went on the attack by unleashing a barrage of drop shots and laser forehands to sweep five straight games from her crumbling opponent to force the second into a tiebreak.
By then the damage had been done, with a distraught and flustered Begu meekly surrendering the tiebreak.
