On Friday, July 26, the final match of the WTA-250 tournament took place in Iasi, Romania. The decisive match was between Russian tennis players Mirra Andreeva, seeded number one, and Elina Avanesyan (5). The 17-year-old Andreeva saved two match points in the semi-finals and won a convincing victory over Serbian tennis player Olga Danilovic 3:6, 6:3, 7:6. And the 21-year-old Avanesyan, who was forced to play two matches in one day due to rain, easily defeated Frenchwoman Chloe Paquet 6:2, 6:3.
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Mirra walked away with 2 match points, Avanesyan secured the Russian final. Someone will take the 1st title.
For both players, this was the first final at WTA level, so it was clear in advance that someone would lift the main trophy of the tournament over their heads for the first time. And this was the first purely Russian final since ‘s-Hertogenbosch 2023, when Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Veronika Kudermetova.
Andreeva, who won the first tournament as the top seed, said that she is not stopping there. “Reaching the first final? It’s great. Another milestone that I achieved this year. I try not to think about it. This week has already become positive for me. But of course, I want to achieve more,” Mirra was quoted by the WTA press service as saying.
Mirra Andreeva at Wimbledon 2024
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Andreeva and Avanesyan have already played each other, also this year and also on clay. In Rouen, Mirra was stronger by 7:5, 6:4. Today’s match started with a five-hour delay due to rain. Avanesyan seemed worried about the long wait. How else to explain two double faults in the first game? This helped Andreeva a lot to start the match with a break. Up to 4:4 inclusive, the tennis players swung, winning two games each. Mirra led 2:0 and 4:2, but Elina caught up with her twice. In each of these games there was a stubborn battle, except for the eighth, when Avanesyan, thanks to a double fault by Andreeva, used her first break point.
In the end, Avanesyan seemed to be the better choice, often playing half-candles and forcing her opponent to do the same. In the 12th game, Elina was able to take the game. She missed a double set point due to her own inaccuracies, but in the third she waited for a mistake from Mirra (7:5 in 1 hour and 5 minutes).
At the beginning of the second set, the opponents exchanged games and then breaks. After the fifth game, when the score was 3-2 in Avanesyan’s favor (no break), Andreeva took a medical timeout due to problems with her right leg.
Mirra Andreeva’s medical break
Photo: x.com/edgeaiofficial
This seemed to benefit Mirra. After a break, she brought the game to love and then broke ahead 4:3. But when serving in the eighth game, she won only one point. On break point, Avanesyan simply made an exemplary play and won 4:4. However, Elina was unable to bring the matter to a victory.
The eleventh game was decisive, in which Andreeva broke to love. After that, she served for the set and took the match to the third game: 7:5 in 57 minutes.
Here Avanesyan, apparently, simply ran out of steam. Andreeva, seemingly easy and natural, began to take away her own and other people’s games. Elina only accepted individual draws. And after the fourth game, she completely retreated. The score of this final is 5:7, 7:5, 4:0 (rejection) in favor of Mirra.
So Andreeva won her first WTA title, in her first final. Mirra became only the fifth player to win her first title this season. The first four are Emma Navarro (Hobart), Diana Schneider (Hua Hin), Yuan Yue (Austin) and Python Stearns (Rabat). One of the “Championship” predictions has already come true: we predicted the title for Mirra.
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At 17 years and 90 days, Andreeva became the youngest title holder in three years. In 2021, Cori Gauff won the tournament in Parma (Italy) at the age of 17 years and 70 days. In addition, Mirra won her fifth consecutive victory, repeating her personal record. She had a similar streak at Roland Garros 2024, where she reached the semi-finals. In the rankings, Andreeva will return to 23rd place – this is a repeat of her personal record. And Avanesyan will become the 58th racket in the world for the first time in his career.
Mirra will now take a break and head to Paris. From July 26 to August 11, the French capital will host the Olympic Games.
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The doubles final was also held today in Iasi. And it was already clear before the match that at least one Russian would celebrate the success. The Kazakh-Russian duo Anna Danilina/Irina Khromacheva faced the Russians Alexandra Panova and Yana Sizikova. In the first set, Danilina and Khromacheva initially played confidently in their games, and in the eighth game they broke 5:3. They failed to serve for the match, losing a double set point. But in the tenth game they only lost one point in reception – 6:4 in 36 minutes.
In the second set, Anna and Irina took a 3-0 lead with a break. In the fifth game, Panova and Sizikova gave back a break, but then failed to win a game, losing serve twice. And the title went to Danilina and Khromacheva 6:4, 6:2 in 1 hour and 17 minutes.
WTA-250. Iasi 2024. Doubles. Final Anna Danilina/Irina Khromacheva – Alexandra Panova/Yana Sizikova – 6:4, 6:2.
The final of the WTA-250 tournament in Prague turned out to be all Polish. Magda Linett confidently beat Magdalena French 6:2, 6:1 in 1 hour 22 minutes. What is interesting in this situation is that Lynette is Mirra Andreeva’s first competitor at the Olympic Games. Thus, from the point of view of physical fitness, both tennis players, in theory, should be in equal condition, as they will have approximately the same time for rest and preparation.
