Another Canadian teenager makes a precocious splash on the pro tennis circuit as Bianca Andreescu reaches Gatineau final

It was impressive enough for Mississauga, Ont.'s Bianca Andreescu, who turned 15 in June, to reach the final of the $25,000 ITF Pro Circuit event in Gatineau, Quebec this weekend as a wild card.

What was even more impressive was that it was the first time she had played in a professional tournament.

On the heels of Félix Auger-Aliassime's impressive showing in a $100,000 Challenger in Granby, Que. the previous week (Auger-Aliassime is two months younger than Andreescu; he turns 15 on Saturday), that's two young Canadians to watch out for in the coming years.

Andreescu defeated 18-year-old American Ellie Halbauer (ranked No. 429) in the first round, 20-year-old Barbora Stefkova of the Czech Republic (No. 288) in the second round, 27-year-old veteran Shuko Aoyama (ranked No. 206, No. 65 in doubles) in the quarter-finals, and Mexico's Victoria Rodriguez, No. 275, in the semis.

She was finally beaten 6-4, 6-3 in the final by American Alexa Glatch, a 25-year-old Californian ranked No. 155 with an all-court game who was a top junior (she reached both the US Open junior singles and doubles final a decade ago), got close to the top 100 as a teenager, and is slowly making her way back up after a long injury absence from the game.

For a 15-year-old with no ranking and no pro experience, who was still 14 when she made her debut at the junior Grand Slam level this spring at the French Open, Andreescu showed tremendous poise – particularly against Stefkova when, up a set but down in the second-set tiebreak and in danger of having it go the distance, she saved set points and took the tiebreaker, and the match.

Andreescu's rise in 2015 has been impressive. She was ranked No. 332 in the ITF junior rankings at the end of last year; she's now No. 37. She had to win two qualifying matches to get into the French Open juniors, but was straight in at Wimbledon and although she lost in the first round in both, she won a round of doubles at both with fellow Ontarian Katherine Sebov.

Here's Andreescu in her junior Slam debut – a dramatic one in which rain interrupted play, and her momentum, after she'd taken the first set against Anna Kalinskaya of Russia 6-0.

Kalinskaya, one of those highly-regarded "marketable Nike future star" types, ended up reaching the final in Paris and with it, a junior ranking of No. 4. For a player making her debut at that level, it was still a good effort despite the loss.

At Wimbledon, she lost to American Sofia Kenin, but again won a round in doubles with Sebov before losing to a experienced powerhouse Czech pair (including world No. 1 Marketa Vondrousova) who won the junior doubles in Paris.

Andreescu has been working with an excellent coach, former world No. 3 Nathalie Tauziat, since the spring. Tauziat was coaching Aleksandra Wozniak before her shoulder surgery and she was at Genie Bouchard's side when she won junior Wimbledon in 2012, and took her first steps as a pro.

That, in itself, is interesting – especially given Andreescu's young age. She did not have to move to the national training centre in Montreal, where all of the country's best prospects are theoretically supposed to be. Instead, she stayed at home, but still clearly has the full support of the federation given they have assigned her the best coach they have. It seems to signal a welcome shift in Tennis Canada's thinking in that regard, even if it drops the talent level within the national centre structure not to have its best players training together (the notion being that this daily competition offers quality practice partners and extra motivation to get better).

What is there to like about Andreescu? Well, one thing that stands out is that she's solidly built for her age, which likely helps her compete against the bigger, stronger, older girls.

But above all, in observing her at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, her cheery on-court disposition and seeming outward calm when things aren't going well will stand her in good stead. There was little of that racquet banging, grunting, wailing-at-the-coach-and-the-world unhappiness that characterizes a lot of the junior girls when things are going badly.  On the flip side, when things were going well, there also was calm – little of that fist-pumping C'MONNNN! in-your-face attitude.

When she played a good point, Andreescu seemed ... GASP! ... happy about it. A novel notion.  When she made a bad error, she could laugh at herself. That even-keeled temperament in the biggest tournaments of her life to that point can only help her going forward.

As well, Andreescu displayed solid technique and a good variety of shot not only for her age – but for a junior of any age.

It's still so early, but Andreescu seems to be on the right track.