Canadian teen sensation Andreescu soars 45 spots in rankings after inspiring run in New Zealand

After falling to Goerges on Sunday in her eighth match in nine days, Andreescu left Auckland for Melbourne on Monday to prepare for the Australian Open’s qualifying draw, starting Tuesday.

Andreescu should be brimming with confidence after also winning three qualifying matches for the ASB Classic and dispatching Taiwan’s Su-wei Hsieh and Timea Babos of Hungary in the main draw.

“I think it was an incredible performance by Bianca,” Borfiga said from Montreal. “I was surprised because she won [some] matches quite easily. She beat Babos in two sets, she beat Wozniacki in two sets. Against Williams, after losing the first set, she went 6-1, 5-0, and she won the semifinal in two sets.

“That means that she has been good and her level has been very high. It’s a good sign for the rest of the year.”

It was Andreescu’s first career WTA final and fourth appearance in a main draw on the Tour. She earned US$21,400 for finishing second.

Andreescu boasts a well-rounded game that is well suited to any surface. She has the power to blast away from the baseline and will often change the tempo with slice shots and drops.

Borfiga hopes she’ll continue to make strides with her service game and her fitness as she works with national women’s coach Sylvain Bruneau.

“I think one of the necessities for Bianca is to not only think about the ranking, but to think about improving her game day after day,” he said. “To be ready to win a tournament on the WTA and maybe later, a big tournament.

“But [if she can] improve on the physical side and on the technical side day after day, after that the results will come for sure.”

Romania’s Simona Halep remained No. 1 in an unchanged top three that includes Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Wozniacki.