Throwback Thursday: BiBi rises to the occasion

In each of the last two playings, a new star was crowned at the BNP Paribas Open. Two years ago, Naomi Osaka won her debut title by beating Daria Kasatkina in the final—and went on to win the US Open and Australian Open to become the world No. 1.

And in 2019, when teenage wild card Bianca Andreescu fought out a two-hour-and-18-minute three-setter versus Angelique Kerber, winning on her fourth championship point, she was just getting started as well.

Andreescu would go 48-7 in her breakout year, with a Premier 5 title in her hometown, Toronto, and a major victory at the US Open, where she defeated Serena Williams, 6-3, 7-5, in the championship match.

Despite missing much of the middle of the season with a shoulder injury, and needing to retire from the WTA Finals with a left knee injury, Andreescu finished the year with the No. 5 ranking, 147 spots above where she started.

Still sidelined by her knee, she hasn't been able to begin her 2020 campaign yet, but with the rest of the sport on hold as well amid the COVID-19 pandemic, her ranking will be frozen at No. 6—and she'll have some extra time to recover.

When Andreescu won Indian Wells, becoming the youngest champion there since Serena Williams was 17, she showed she was ready not only to win WTA titles, but also to be an alpha on tour, not afraid of anybody and willing to win any match on her own terms.

No one will get a chance to make a similar statement in California this year, but when Andreescu returns to the tour, surely no one will forget what she did in 2019.

Check out the latest episode of the TENNIS.com Podcast, on cancellations, coronavirus and confusion: