(Wimbledon) In her first appearance on the London lawn, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva was the last player to earn her ticket to the fourth round of the Wimbledon Open on Sunday.
New rising star of women’s tennis, 16-year-old Andreeva pulled off a feat with a straight-set 6-2, 7-5 win over 23-year-old compatriot Anastasia Potapovae world player and 22e first in the series.
In doing so, she became the youngest player since Coco Gauff in 2019 to advance to the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Andreeva, who reached the third round of women’s singles at the French Open last month, earned the triumph despite trailing 1-4 in the second set.
“I erased a 1-4 loss so of course I feel very good,” Andreeva said in an on-court interview before explaining how she stays calm.
“Today, honestly, even though I wanted to show emotion, I couldn’t because I was out of breath almost every point. I really couldn’t show emotions,” added Andreeva, who is making her second appearance at a Grand Slam tournament as a professional.
Those emotions finally came out, however, when Andreeva sat down in her chair and covered her face with her Wimbledon-identified towel for a few seconds while she regained her poise.
In her next match, Andreeva will face American Madison Keys, 25e seeded for a place in the quarter-finals.
Twenty minutes earlier, Marketa Vondrousova had become the first women’s singles player to make it to the quarter-finals. She did so with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over 32-ranked Marie Bouzkovae.
Fourth-seeded American Jessica Pegula also earned her spot in the quarter-finals after beating Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko 6-1, 6-3. Pegula will meet Vondrousova in the quarter-finals.
PHOTO ALASTAIR GRANT, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jessica Pegula
The missing piece in the fourth round of the men’s singles was filled following the victory of Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, 21e first in the series. In a match that started Saturday, Dimitrov defeated American Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
His next opponent will be Denmark’s Holger Rune, seeded sixth.
Later Sunday, on the center court, the Polish Iga Swiatek, world number one, must face the Swiss Belinda Bencic.
After this match, Novak Djokovic, seven-time champion at the All England Club, will cross swords with Pole Hubert Hurkacz.