Rogers Cup: Bianca Andreescu's topsy-turvy win over Kiki Bertens reinforces importance of liberating, child-like freedom

Mid-way through her third-round match against Kiki Bertens, Bianca Andreescu looked like she was about to throw a full-blown tantrum that would put any school kid to shame. Stomping her feet and waving her arms up and down, she seemed ready to scream her lungs out at…maybe a toy that had been snatched from her hands? The only thing missing was a backpack on her shoulders and a pencil between her fingers.

Andreescu is young, but at times she looks even younger than her 19 years. Her reactions can range from the charmingly theatrical to the farcically cringeworthy; in the second half of the match on Thursday, they travelled pretty much the entire spectrum. Andreescu’s behaviour gives her an air of innocence and petulance, and when contrasted with the austere Bertens at the other end, it made her look like a kid lost in the big leagues.

Except that in the first set, it was Andreescu who was showing her home crowd what big-league tennis looks like. Doing whatever she wanted to with the ball, the young Canadian was perpetually one step ahead of her experienced opponent. Her drop shots worked like a charm, but so did her regulation slices — purely because of how well-disguised they were. And her loopy forehands into the corners gave just enough height to the ball, allowing her to flatten the next shot out of Bertens’ reach.

Andreescu was quicker, smarter and stronger; hitting winners and getting errors out of the opponent seemed like the easiest thing in the world at that point.

There was more to it than just the tennis and its competitiveness though. When Andreescu is playing well, it looks like she’s out on the court to have fun rather than win a match. She flails her racquet behind her back for shots that wrong-foot her. She kicks away the extra ball given to her by the ball-kids while she’s serving, football-style. She smiles with coy self-satisfaction when she makes a particularly intelligent play that flummoxes her opponent.

It is, in short, all fun and games — albeit littered with some brilliant tennis.

But as the match went deeper, Andreescu started getting increasingly anxious about the finish line. The fun element was gradually replaced by ambition; a place in the quarter-final was hers for the taking, and a stumble now would be worthy of regret.

In most cases, ambition is a good thing. Just look at Roger Federer; the Swiss legend wouldn’t have given us the memorably dramatic Wimbledon final if he didn’t still yearn for big titles with all his heart. But when you’re young and just starting out on the tour, is it perhaps more beneficial to enjoy yourself than employ tunnel-vision focus for a positive result?

Andreescu was at her eclectic best in that first set, when she had nothing to lose. But from the second set onwards, she kept getting tight at all the wrong moments. Instead of trying to outwit her opponent, she started trying to outhit her, and that was never going to be a good strategy against someone with the easy power of Bertens.

After breaking back for 2-3, Andreescu promptly went three break points down (which she saved mainly through Bertens’ profligacy). In the tiebreaker she built a 5-2 lead and even held match point, only to see the Dutchwoman claw her way back with nothing more than deep groundstrokes. And in the third set she went from 4-1 up to 4-4; how many chances was she going to get to wrap up the match?

Fortunately for Andreescu, she had the unflinching support of the crowd throughout all her ups and downs. The stadium was only half-full, but considering the size of the arena, that was more than enough. As the spectators chanted “BI-AN-CA! BI-AN-CA! BI-AN-CA!”, Andreescu increased the volume on her own cries of self-exhortation, and got fragments of her free-flowing tennis back.

Bertens was the more proactive player towards the end but she may as well have been an invisible force on the court, shooting bullets out of nothingness. The Canadian’s child-like shenanigans and the crowd’s vocal support made for such a compelling combination that it was hard to take your eyes away from her side of the court. Nothing else seemed to matter in those frenetic final minutes except Andreescu and the thrilling joy-ride she was taking the spectators on.

She ended up winning the match, but nobody would mistake this for a perfect performance. She needed every bit of the crowd support to loosen up long enough and take advantage of Bertens’ double faults (there were 10 in total, the last of which came on match point) and return errors.

On another day, there could have been zero double faults and Andreescu would’ve fallen 10 points short. That’s just tennis.

But on another day, Andreescu could also have played with complete freedom after bagging the first set. Would we have seen a straight-sets win for her then, instead of the topsy-turvy battle we ended up getting?

Andreescu’s game is so multi-faceted that you have to wonder whether it can ever thrive under structured ambition. You can’t carve under that slice so viciously if you’re worried about it going long; you can’t hit a loopy forehand into the corner if you fear that your opponent will take it on the rise and whack it away for a winner.

At this stage of Andreescu’s career, playing for fun might be the best way to get the results she wants. Getting too serious about the match almost cost her against Bertens, and it may cost her again in the future.

Those theatrical reactions and over-the-top gestures helped her loosen up, making her tennis more effective. She is most dangerous when she plays with complete and joyful abandon, so maybe she should continue behaving like a child during her matches — foot-stomping, arm-waving and all.