Toronto 2019 Final: S.Williams vs B. Andreescu

[helixx]

What to expect?! Lot of drama, screaming, cat fight, maybe some mtos and hopefully good tennis.

Serena is 0:1 in finals this year, lost Wimbledon final to Halep.

Bianca is 2:1. Won Indian Wells over Kerber and New Port Beach over Pegulla, lost Auckland to Goerges.

 

[prairiegirl]

GO BIANCA!

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

I just hope both bring her best. Serena has been firing aces the last 2 rounds.

 

[prairiegirl]

Let's go Bianca!

 

[helixx]

1 hour to go

 

[Tanya]

Depends which Serena shows up... if it's the Serena who was on court against Osaka, should be a pretty comfortable straight sets win. If it's the Serena from set 1 against Bouzkova, then things could get messy

 

[speedysteve]

Yes, go, go, go Bianca.

 

[La Grande]

THIS GON’ BE GOOD!

 

[helixx]

Serena has nice dress

 

[helixx]

oh no retirement

 

[La Grande]

Serena has retired from the match with injury

 

[MugOpponent]

bianca in one.

 

[mightyrick]

Williams said it was back spasms.

For those who have never had back spasms, they are absolutely horrible.

 

[marc45]

back spasms

 

[Sparlingo]

Too bad, I was just settling in. Sorry for Serena. Happy for Bianca.

 

[spystud]

What to expect?! Lot of drama, screaming, cat fight, maybe some mtos and hopefully good tennis.

Or 4 games.

 

[Dondon]

Lol. Wta dramap.
Whoever paid tickets is bummes

 

[I Am Finnish]

WTF

I wanted bibi to win but not like this

 

[MugOpponent]

It has to be a little strange for Bianca. Obviously it's amazing to win the tournament but you never want it because the other player retired. Then you cross that with winning in your own country for the first time.

 

[ALEXT]

Man, oh man.... Why didn't she just walked over before the SF to allow Bouzkova to actually play the Final?

I cannot believe she got injured in the 4 games she played without a previous underlying condition....
And now all the drama, crying, etc....

 

[Andy Miller]

Wow Serena drama in a final what else is new. Woman's tennis is a joke what a waste of money for the people who paid. She did not even try to get treatment. She needs to retire.

 

[carlitoo]

When on earth is she gonna retire from sport? Please just go!

 

[Dondon]

Serena pulls a monfill
Collects a million?

 

[mightyrick]

Man, oh man.... Why didn't she just walked over before the SF to allow Bouzkova to actually play the Final?

I cannot believe she got injured in the 4 games she played without a previous underlying condition?

She told Andreescu that the spasms came on last night. So the physios were probably working on her all morning long to see if they could stave them off. Unfortunately, back spasms just can't be remediated without rest.

I'm sure Williams knew she wasn't going to finish the match... even before the match started. But she had to show up and at least try. Kudos to her for that.

 

[duaneeo]

For those who have never had back spasms, they are absolutely horrible.

I concur.

 

[prairiegirl]

Happy and sad for Bianca. Happy she gets the title, but not like this. No one wants an unearned title. Still, she played beautifully again this week and now she has two masters titles to her record. I will edit this to say I have had back spasms many times due to my condition and they are horrible. It can take hours for them to subside or sometimes they will thankfully go away quickly with some TENS and massage. Sorry Serena has to go through this.

 

[weakera]

I really don't like Serena but I am sorry for her and her fans. You never want to see injury get in the way of good competition. Hope Serena is healthy for USO but it's only going to be more and more difficult for her to manage her body moving forward.

 

[Andy Miller]

When you only show up for the majors and a few other tournaments what do you expect. She is unprepared she makes the final because she is one of the most talented people to play tennis. No excuses she is not fit.

 

[tennis4me]

Bummer.

I completely missed this. Did Serena really looked injured, thus the current score 3-1? It is one of those things, falling behind and looked like it's going to be a bad loss and decided to retire?

 

[MeatTornado]

Bummer.

I completely missed this. Did Serena really looked injured, thus the current score 3-1? It is one of those things, falling behind and looked like it's going to be a bad loss and decided to retire?

Well she did get broken on a double-fault and was only serving 44%, so it's not hard to believe she was having back problems.

But I didn't think she looked bad enough to abruptly retire like that.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Always awful to watch a player retire in tears.

Crumby end to what was an incredible week for Andreescu. Another Premier+ title for her. Watch out world.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

Williams said it was back spasms.

For those who have never had back spasms, they are absolutely horrible.

Yes, they are, but do not expect anyone who never does much more than lift a finger to type Serena hate to understand that.

Man, oh man.... Why didn't she just walked over before the SF to allow Bouzkova to actually play the Final?

Because that is not how reality works.

I cannot believe she got injured in the 4 games she played without a previous underlying condition....
And now all the drama, crying, etc....

Of course you cant, but Halep bailing on an event is perfectly understandable, right?

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

Just tune in and it's over!

@mightyrick Is it gonna cost her Cincy appearance?

 

[Andy Miller]

Yes, they are, but do not expect anyone who never does much more than lift a finger to type Serena hate to understand that.



Because that is not how reality works.



Of course you cant, but Halep bailing on an event is perfectly understandable, right?

Halep does not have Drama in every final. I can't wait for her to break the record and retire.

 

[donquijote]

Bummer.

I completely missed this. Did Serena really looked injured, thus the current score 3-1? It is one of those things, falling behind and looked like it's going to be a bad loss and decided to retire?

I'd say a tactical retirement to avoid an embarrassing defat and also protect health before US Open. There is no way she could be so injured after a few games. She could at least ask for MT and see how it goes.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

Halep does not have Drama in every final. I can't wait for her to break the record and retire.

A retirement is a retirement. There is no end-result difference between Serena and Halep retiring during an event.

 

[OutOfBounds]

Lol. Wta dramap.
Whoever paid tickets is bummes

They will probably get their money back. It's Tennis Canada that will take the hit. They lost about a million with Monfils's withdrawal yesterday, but they had bought insurance, which is a new thing apparently, and it may cover half of it. I don't know if they also had insurance for the WTA tournament.

 

[Toyo]

I'm so glad now that i watched the Semis against Kenin yesterday because to me that was the real Finals the way those two were battling.

 

[Lozo1016]

I'm uncomfortable speculating on an athlete's health. If she says her back spasms were too much to handle, then I'll take her word for it. Hopefully she'll be healthy for New York.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Back spasm is a critical condition and Serena could not play 100%!

Andreescu went from being back from injured to first tournament after injury to first Canadian to win the Roger Cup in Toronto(a WTA Premier level tournament) in a while like 50 years! LOL

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

I'd say a tactical retirement to avoid an embarrassing defat and also protect health before US Open. There is no way she could be so injured after a few games. She could at least ask for MT and see how it goes.

As @mightyrick said, back spasm happened last night and it can't be cured within a day.

 

[Toyo]

I'm uncomfortable speculating on an athlete's health. If she says her back spasms were too much to handle, then I'll take her word for it. Hopefully she'll be healthy for New York.

With back spasms you're never 100% healthy as they could pop up anytime for no apparent reason. it gets worse as you get older too

 

[ALEXT]

I understand she could not continue the match due to injury and had to retire. No issue there...
However, what I have hard time believing is that this injury was sudden (only felt it last night) and she didn't feel anything during the SF match, which was a pretty physical match, to tell her that she won't be able to play the Final at which point it would' ve been fair to retire during the SF to give the other player the chance to compete in the Final.

Hard not to think, at least as a possibility, that some business arrangements have been made around this match based on how things went down.....

Unfortunately I know that in the real world and for most people involved in sports, financial interests trump "fair play" any day.

 

[mightyrick]

Just tune in and it's over!

@mightyrick Is it gonna cost her Cincy appearance?

I mean, she certainly could try, but I think that's ill-advised if she wants to contend for the US Open. In my opinion, she should skip it. Based on her play this week, she's clearly match-ready and in good form. I don't see why she thinks she'd need more matches to prepare.

 

[spystud]

Serena’s quotes.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1160650063493959684

 

[a10best]

back spasms do come all of a sudden, young or old. They are crippling. Way to go Patrick Morataglou on getting her fit.
Remember Steve Nash's back issues when he was in the NBA?

 

[Mr.Lob]

Williams said it was back spasms.

For those who have never had back spasms, they are absolutely horrible.

They are horrible. You can barely walk in some cases. How did Serena look?

 

[mightyrick]

They are horrible. You can barely walk in some cases. How did Serena look?

Her form has been the best it's been in awhile. I mean, she's not as fit as she used to be, so she still has movement issues and isn't getting into position all the time. But I thought she was moving the best in this tournament than I've seen her move in a long time. Unfortunately, though, she pushed really hard in that semifinal match and there goes the back.

She dictated well, though. But she really needs to shorten up the rallies when she can. The semifinal match was WAY too much running for her.

 

[Mr.Lob]

I really don't like Serena but I am sorry for her and her fans. You never want to see injury get in the way of good competition. Hope Serena is healthy for USO but it's only going to be more and more difficult for her to manage her body moving forward.

I thought Serenas cardio and overall fitness has improved, since Wimbledon. Still needs to drop about 10-15 pounds. Movement and agility have really fallen, but this WTA field of great... depth... lack the physical and mental skills to take advantage.

 

[Mr.Lob]

Her form has been the best it's been in awhile. I mean, she's not as fit as she used to be, so she still has movement issues and isn't getting into position all the time. But I thought she was moving the best in this tournament than I've seen her move in a long time. Unfortunately, though, she pushed really hard in that semifinal match and there goes the back.

She dictated well, though. But she really needs to shorten up the rallies when she can. The semifinal match was WAY too much running for her.

Agree. She looked the best she has in awhile....physically. Despite being up and down in her play, when the focus is there, she wins the point. Before this match, thought she had an excellent chance to win the U.S Open. Need a lot of rest for those back muscles to heal.