Russia’s Mirra Andreeva opened some eyes Wednesday with a convincing a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain.
The 15-year-old Andreeva is the third-youngest player to win a main-draw match at a 1000-level tournament behind Coco Gauff and CiCi Bellis, according to the WTA.
“It was really tough match for me and I just tried to give my best and to play every point,” Andreeva said afterward. “I’m extremely happy with my level today.”
Andreeva, who turns 16 on Saturday, normally plays at the ITF level and won back-to-back titles on that tour before arriving in Madrid.
Andreeva set the tone by winning the first three games of the opening set. In the second, she won five in a row to hold a 5-1 lead before Fernandez made a late charge that fell short.
Andreeva registered four aces and saved five of six break points. She will face 13th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil in the second round.
Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open runner-up, won just 57.1 percent of her first-serve points.
Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who defeated Fernandez in that famed U.S. Open final, withdrew with a right hand injury shortly before she was slated to play Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria.
Raducanu is expected to fall outside the Top 100 for the first time since her win in New York.
Julia Grabher of Austria replaced Raducanu and delivered a 6-1, 7-6 (5) win over Tomova.
Former World No. 3 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine played in her first 1000-level match in nearly 14 months due to a pregnancy leave. But it wasn’t a happy return as Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus recorded a 6-4, 7-5 victory.
This was Svitolina’s second overall match since returning from the leave. She lost in the first round to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan at Charleston earlier this month.
Sasnovich had a 19-14 edge in winners in the 99-minute match.
After losing, Svitolina refused to shake hands with Sasnovich. Svitolina has been a harsh critic of players from Russia and Belarus, stemming from the Russian invasion of her homeland.
Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, was dismissed in the first round as Jaqueline Cristian of Romania posted a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
In other matches involving Americans, Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands swept Amanda Anisimova 7-5, 6-2; Caty McNally rallied for a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 win over Italy’s Dalma Galfi; and Alycia Parks outlasted Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2.
Other winners Wednesday included France’s Alize Cornet, Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard, Germany’s Laura Siegemund, Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine, Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Irene Burillo Escorihuela, Nuria Parrizas Diaz and Rebeka Masarova, all of Spain.
Poland’s Magdalena Frech, China’s Xiyu Wang, Colombia’s Camila Osorio, Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, Germany’s Tatjana Maria and Egypt’s Mayar Sherif also won their respective matches.
–Field Level Media