Why Bianca Andreescu Deserves the Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s Top Athlete
The Lou Marsh Trophy is an award given annually to Canada’s top athlete, professional or amateur, as voted by journalists across Canada. The award has been handed out 82 times since 1936, including 13 times to hockey players, nine times to a figure skater, and one time to a harness racer. Not once has it been awarded to a tennis player. I believe it’s time that changed.
Whether you’re a fan of tennis, or you don’t understand how the sport works at all, by now you’ve likely heard about Canadian Bianca Andreescu’s remarkable triumph at the U.S. Open over Serena Williams.
If not, just go through it with me, step by step. A first-generation Canadian teenager from Mississauga and the daughter of Romanian immigrants takes down the greatest women’s singles tennis player in history at her home tournament. Not only was it her first major win, but it was Canada’s first major singles title in history, male or female. Andreescu won it in dominating fashion, defeating Williams in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. A year ago, Andreescu wasn’t even ranked inside the WTA’s Top 200, and now she’s 5th in the world after becoming the first player born after 2000 to win a Grand Slam tournament.
Who in the world saw this coming? I would hate to use the cliché and say that Hollywood couldn’t even come up with a story like this, but they really couldn’t. They tried with the 2004 film Wimbledon starring Kirsten Dunst, and that was nowhere close to as good as this.
It makes even more sense to give Andreescu the Lou Marsh when you consider that no Canadian from any of the big four sports compares to her this year. The Raptors’ NBA Championship was thrilling for people across Canada, but the only Canadian on their roster was bench piece Chris Boucher. Ryan O’Reilly and Alex Pietrangelo each had a great Stanley Cup playoffs for the St. Louis Blues en route to the franchise’s first championship, but they were hardly extraordinary when compared to the achievements of the plethora of hockey players that Canada regularly produces.
There are obviously still other great candidates that deserve consideration. Brooke Henderson has once again had a great year on the LPGA Tour. Mikael Kingsbury, last year’s Lou Marsh recipient and the first freestyle skier to win the award, followed up his incredible year in 2018 with two gold medals at the 2019 World Championships. But Andreescu is in a class of her own. What she has been able to accomplish this year, including a Rogers Cup victory on home soil just down the street from Osgoode at the Aviva Centre, is something like we’ve never seen from a Canadian before.
Our nation has had its moments in the sport of tennis, but they have been few and far between, merely flashes of prominence on the international stage. Daniel Nestor won an Olympic gold medal for Canada, albeit in the doubles circuit. Milos Raonic has reached the final of Wimbledon, but injuries and the continued greatness of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic have prevented him from hitting that next level. Genie Bouchard also made a Wimbledon final, but her fall from grace came as quickly as her meteoric rise, and she’s begun to focus more on her personal brand than her play on the court.
The best part of it all is that unlike them, Andreescu doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. She’s only 19 and she just finished 2019 undefeated against Top 10 opponents with a combined record of 8-0. If she hadn’t been sidelined with a shoulder injury for two months forcing her to withdraw from the French Open and miss Wimbledon, who knows how incredible her year might’ve been. No other Canadian athlete could do what Andreescu has already achieved, and she has the potential to firmly take her place as one of the top athletes of a sport recognized around the world.
Yes, Mayor John Tory just declared this past Monday ‘Bianca Andreescu Day’ to honour Canada’s breakout star and newfound sweetheart, but there’s a better way to truly appreciate the magnitude of what she has accomplished. For the first time ever, Canada finally has a tennis star who can uplift the nation and she deserves the highest honour that can be bestowed. Bianca Andreescu deserves the Lou Marsh Trophy.