Rogers Cup: Canada's Bianca Andreescu clinches title as Serena Williams retires hurt

19-year-old Bianca Andreescu of Canada lifted the trophy in the women's singles event of the Rogers Cup after American tennis ace and former world number one Serena Williams retired hurt during the summit showdown between the two players in Montreal on Sunday evening. 

23-time Grand Slam champion Williams, who was playing her first WTA-level final since her win over compatriot Madison Keys at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in 2016, was trailing 1-3 against Andreescu in the final clash when she retired hurt citing an upper back injury. 

Following the clash, Williams revealed that she started facing troubles during her semi-final clash against qualifier Marie Bouzkova when she experienced a painful back spasm but she somehow managed to seal a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 win.

“Just my whole back just completely spasmed, and to a point where I couldn't sleep and I couldn't really move. And so I was just trying to figure out, ‘How do you play a match where you have no rotation?" the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) quoted the eighth-seed American as saying

Williams stayed neck-to-neck during those four tough games against Andreescu as she smashed two aces and picked up a hold of serve along the way. However, the three-time Canadian Open winner faced break points in both of her two service games besides also being broken once. 

And the American star admitted that she was facing a lot of difficulty to serve during the clash. 

“It's difficult for me to serve, I mean, I could move, but I need my upper body.My lower body was fine, but I just couldn't do anything with my upper body and, again, for this period of time. I had so much treatment before, hours and hours of treatment. So I just knew. I knew I wasn't going to be able to continue," Williams reavealed. 

Meanwhile, teenager Andreescu became the first Canadian tennis player to win the Montreal Masters title in 50 years.

Andreescu, who was playing her first tournament since a withdrawal from the second round of Roland Garros in late May, won her first four matches of the Rogers Cup in three sets before registering a straight-set victory over America's Sofia Kenin in the last-four encounter. 

The victory will also see Andreescu surge up from 27th spot to 14th position when an updated WTA rankings are released on Monday.