The 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva stole the show early Wednesday at Melbourne Park. The young Russian destroyed world no. 6 Ons Jabeur 6-0, 6-2 in 54 minutes in the second round of the Australian Open, sailing into the last 32 and making a name for herself.
Thus, the 2023 WTA Newcomer of the Year notched the first top-10 victory of her young career, achieving it against one of her idols in dominant style. A year after competing in the Australian Open junior final, the 16-year-old talent will play in the third round at Majors for the third time, achieving that last year at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Unafraid of the opponent on the other side of the net, Mirra dominated from the encounter’s opening game, imposing her strokes and leaving a pale opponent miles behind. Andreeva clinched twice as many points as Jabeur, displaying a rock-solid display on serve and return.
Mirra dropped ten points behind the initial shot, defending a lone break point and mounting the pressure on Ons.
Mirra Andreeva lost two games against Ons Jabeur at the Australian Open.
World no. 6 could not challenge those numbers, serving at 49% and dropping almost 60% of the points behind the initial shot.
Andreeva earned seven break chances and seized five, controlling the scoreboard and sealing the deal within an hour. Jabeur sprayed 25 unforced errors and lost the ground in the shortest, mid-range and most extended rallies, powerless against the youngster’s depth and precision.
A teenager needed a strong start and could not have made a better one, wrapping up the opener in 20 minutes with a bagel! Andreeva grabbed a break at 30 in the encounter’s first game after Jabeur’s wild backhand and cemented it with a hold at 15 in game two thanks to another groundstroke error from world no.
6. Struggling with her movement and timing, the Tunisian sprayed another backhand error in game three, losing serve and sending the Russian 3-0 in front. Mira grabbed the fourth game when Ons netted a forehand and delivered her third straight break after a forced error for 5-0.
Andreeva served for the opener in game six and held from 0-30 with a forced error, wrapping up the set with authority. Jabeur ended her downfall with a hold at the beginning of the second set before spraying a forehand error at 1-1 to fall behind.
The young gun denied the only break point with a running forehand winner in game four, holding after the opponent’s terrible backhand and moving 3-1 in front. Jabeur played a terrible drop shot at the net in game five, losing serve and dropping ten of the opening 11 games!
Mirra earned three game points with a couple of crafty winners in game six, firing a service winner for a hold at love and 5-1. The Tunisian reduced the deficit to 5-2, and the Russian served for the victory in game eight. Andreeva created two match points with a service winner and seized the first with another to celebrate a massive win at such a young age.