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Last January, Bianca Andreescu entered the qualifiers for the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, and managed to secure a place in the main draw of the WTA event.
This is often how careers at the top level of tennis begin. Lacking the world ranking status that grants automatic entry into tournaments, athletes have to show up early and try to play their way in. If they pull that off, they will be matched against a top seed in the first round. It is tough sledding: The qualifiers are full of unproven youngsters or veterans on the fringe of the top 150 in the world, all fighting each other for the right to be bounced out of the first round of the main draw by a top star.
When Andreescu, then an 18-year-old ranked 152 in the world, claimed a spot at the ASB Classic, the other three qualifiers were Jana Cepelova, Bibiane Schoofs, and Silvia Soler Espinosa. A year later, Cepelova is ranked 158, Schoofs is ranked 168 and Soler Espinosa is ranked 686.
Andreescu is ranked fifth.
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