Mirra Andreeva on Saturday celebrated her 16th birthday by setting up a Madrid Open showdown with world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, saying she has “nothing to lose.”
The Russian teenager, ranked a lowly 194, eased to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Magda Linette to reach the fourth round, after ousting 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and world No. 14 Beatriz Haddad Maia earlier in the tournament.
“I didn’t expect to be here and playing Sabalenka in the round of 16,” Andreeva told Tennis Channel.
Photo: AFP
“I’m not really surprised with my level, because I know the way I can play on the court ... but of course, I didn’t expect to be here and go this far,” she said.
Andreeva broke Polish player Linette, world No. 19, for 2-0 in the first set, and although the 17th seed broke back, the Russian did it again for a 4-2 lead and served it out.
The teen broke again in the first game of the second set and converted her second match point to break Linette again and clinch victory.
Andreeva, a wildcard, became only the third 15-year-old to win a WTA 1000 main draw match when she beat Fernandez on Wednesday.
She finished as runner-up at the junior Australian Open in January, while Sabalenka won the women’s title for her breakthrough Grand Slam.
“I have nothing to lose,” Andreeva said, as she looked ahead to facing the Belarusian. “I just have to go there and show the best tennis I can. There is no pressure at all for me. There is some pressure on her, I think, because she’s going to play a 16-year-old girl.”
Sabalenka beat resilient wildcard Camila Osorio 6-4, 7-5.
World No. 6 Coco Gauff suffered a surprise third round defeat at the hands of Paula Badosa, losing 6-3, 6-0.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2019 Madrid runner-up, cracked 35 winners to defeat former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).
Thiem, now ranked 93 in the world after a lengthy battle with a wrist injury, battled gamely, but succumbed on the Greek’s fourth match point.
In a remarkable serving performance, fifth-ranked Tsitsipas hit 39 straight first serves from late in the opening set to early in the third.
“That’s fantastic. Thirty-nine is a lot,” Tsitsipas said. “That’s a positive mark for me. I think it’s just pure relaxation and focus.”
World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev saw off Italy’s Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-3 to also reach the third round, while Dusan Lajovic earned a surprise win over world No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS