Mirra Andreeva (No. 47) apologized to her supporters after being defeated by Barbora Krejcikova (No. 11) 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 in the fourth round of the 2024 Australian Open.
The young Russian was the breakout star of 2023 and started this year by showing that she is ready to take the next step. Andreeva played in the final of the Australian Open Junior just a year ago and has now reached the last 16, matching her achievement at Wimbledon last year.
Andreeva sailed through the first round with a comfortable victory over the American Bernarda Pera (No. 71) with a score of 7-5, 6-2. However, she then caused one of the biggest upsets of the tournament by demolishing the world No. 6 Ons Jabeur 6-0, 6-2 in less than an hour.
In the third round, she once again had an epic performance, this time by overturning a match that seemed almost insurmountable against Diane Parry (No. 72), when she was trailing 5-1, 15-0 in the third set but rallied to win 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(5) at a sublime level. Andreeva expressed gratitude for the support she received from the audience throughout the week and apologized if she disappointed them with the result:
“I hope that next year I will be able to be back and play again with this amazing crowd. Today there was a lot of people who was cheering for me. I’m really sorry to everyone that maybe I disappointed you a bit. I’m sure that the next match here I will try to be at my best level, to make you happy,” Mirra Andreeva said.
The 16-year-old teenager fought for more than two hours but couldn’t prevail against the 2021 French Open champion Krejcikova. The latter came back from a set down, showcasing her experience and authority within the Tour to stay mentally engaged in the match until the last point.