Mirra Andreeva continues to break new records and fight on the courts of Roland Garros. On Wednesday, June 5, the Russian competed with the world’s second-ranked racket player, Arina Sabalenka, in the quarterfinals of the French TBS.
By reaching the quarterfinals in Paris, at the age of 17 years and 27 days, Mirra secured the title of second youngest tennis player at this point in a French major of the 21st century. The first youngest athlete is Cecil Karatantcheva, who competed in the Roland Garros quarterfinals at 15 years and 288 days old.
However, young age does not stop Mirra. In the RG semi-final match, she fought two-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka. This was the third meeting for the girls: previously in this confrontation the Belarusian athlete led with a score of 2-0.
Before the new meeting with Sabalenka, Mirra shared her expectations for this quarterfinal.
“I know his game, I know what to expect. He changed the game a little, he doesn’t always just hit, now he also cuts. But she also knows how I play. It will be interesing. I want to win more games than last time. I want to take revenge and win,” said Andreeva Jr. in conversation with “Championship.”
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Today’s match began in an unconventional way: with a pair of double faults by Sabalenka. Only the Belarusian did not immediately allow her opponent to break points and took the first game, and then Mirra missed her serve. As a result, the tennis players exchanged two breaks and tied 3:3.
Arina made too many mistakes at the beginning of the first set: she was hampered by both the unforced serve and the double serve. The first one did not go well at all for the Belarusian. Mirra was also concerned about inaccuracies in many aspects of the game, but in those plays where Sabalenka was not dominating the game, Andreeva took advantage and forced the experienced opponent on her.
Aryna Sabalenka feels bad during her match with Andreeva
Photo: Dan Istitene/Getty Images
Both tennis players were in a storm, but the second racket in the world was more worried about something. Sabalenka noticed pain in her abdominal area and, after losing another serve in the seventh game, she called the physiotherapist. The pills that the Belarusian took did not take effect immediately and Andreeva had the opportunity to serve the set with the score 5:4. But Mirra was in a hurry, she made a mistake and did not take advantage of this opportunity.
The fate of this difficult match was finally decided in the tiebreaker, in which Sabalenka won 7:5. At that time, the Belarusian’s level of play had not improved much, rather the Russian’s errors began to be noticeably greater; Mirra’s serve was not going well at all (only 38% of the first hit), and in the reception rallies he was not always able to take advantage. Although in the first set Andreeva performed well from a tactical point of view: he chased Arina around the corners, took her to the net or, at the first opportunity, finished the game with strong and uncatchable blows.
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The second game began with an exchange of breaks. Sabalenka had a hard time running to the net; He leaned forward after each sprint, and Mirra took advantage of that to complete rallies in his favor. Overall, the Russian seemed limited: in the sixth game she took her opponent’s serve to love, but she started her next minigame with a double fault and finally gave it to Arina.
Sabalenka continued to suffer pain in the second set. She called the doctors again, they gave her the pills again, but the tennis player’s condition still did not return to normal. Towards the end of the game, Arina approached her box and asked her what she should do next. At the same time, Andreeva couldn’t handle her nerves, but she still managed to overcome and take the second set 6:4. The Belarusian thus broke her winning streak of 23 matches in Grand Slam tournaments.
Mirra Andreeva in today’s match with Arina Sabalenka
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
The first serve in the deciding game never reached Andreeva, but Mirra consistently hit the second and repelled many of Sabalenka’s attacks. Arina periodically turned on the powerful tennis she was familiar with, but the young Russian woman found the answer to them.
According to the scenario of the last two sets, the tennis players again exchanged breaks. With the score 4:5, Sabalenka came out to serve, but she no longer had the strength to finish the match. From the second match point, Mirra finished this difficult match in every way with the score 6:7, 6:4, 6:4.
For Mirra, this semifinal will be the first Grand Slam of her career. In the WTA ranking, the Russian will enter the top thirty and occupy 22nd place, while Sabalenka, on the contrary, will lose the title of second racket in the world, ceding it to the American Coco Gauff. Andreeva will also become the youngest TBS semi-finalist since Martina Hingis (16 years old) in 1997.
For the final of Roland Garros 2024, Mirra will compete with the Italian, 15th racket in the world, Yasmine Paolini. Don’t forget to follow this and other Paris matches in the “Championship”!
