Wimbledon: Teenager Mirra Andreeva continues her dream run by reaching fourth round | Tennis News

Teenager Mira Andreeva continued her dream start to life on grass by reaching the last 16 at Wimbledon with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Anastasia Potapova.

Qualifier Andreeva, the youngest main-draw 16-year-old, had to wait a day to start her third-round match, but she again showed why she’s the talk of the tennis world with a stellar performance .

Andreeva’s victory over her more experienced compatriot in an hour and 35 minutes means her impressive Grand Slam run of form reaching the third round at Roland Garros in June has now just got better.

She had never competed on grass before starting qualifying at Roehampton last week, but was able to take her sixth consecutive win on the English lawn.

Comparisons are already being drawn to Radukanu’s win at Flushing Meadow as a qualifier two years ago.

But Andreeva insisted: “Of course, in 2021 she did amazing work. Everyone was impressed. I think she was also impressed to pass the qualifiers and win a Slam at the age of 18. It’s amazing but I, its I try not to think about it.” ,

“I think all these thoughts will bother me. I just try to play every match and not think about how far I have come or what era I am in, who I am playing against.

“I just try to play every point. It doesn’t matter who’s against whom, it doesn’t matter what round. I just play my game. I’m mentally, tennis-wise I don’t change anything.

“When I played my first match in the qualies, I had no expectations because it was my first match on grass. I just tried to give my all on the court.

“Since that first match, I really found the right rhythm. Now it’s working pretty well, I can say. So, honestly, like I said, I didn’t have any expectations. I just played .

“I always say it is a game. The game will decide who will win the match.”

Potapova won their first meeting last October in three sets and, despite exchanging breaks early on, Andreeva took control and won five of the last six games of the first set.

More breaks were shared at the start of a very close second set before Potapova went ahead 4–1.

Andreeva showed impeccable composure to stay calm and fought back to break in the seventh and 11th games of the second set to set up a fourth-round clash with Madison Keys.

An emotional Andreeva, who did not hide her affection for two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, said on court: “Of course I’m really happy that I managed to win this match.

“It was an amazing fight, he played really well and congratulations to him and his team because they did a good job.

“I did everything I could. I gave it my all and I came back from 1-4 down in the second set, so of course I feel great.

“I’m working on it [my emotions] Worked really hard, with my coaches, with my parents, we talked a lot. Now I know that it is easier or better to control my emotions on the court.

“But to be honest, even if I wanted to show some emotion, I couldn’t because I was out of breath at every point!”

She continued, “I enjoy the atmosphere, it’s amazing here. You see all the professional players, you see (Novak) Djokovic, you see Murray… yeah the atmosphere is great and I hope is that next year i’ll be in a different locker room [for seeds] That’s a level up!”

Andreeva lost the Australian Open junior final in January before making headlines with a stellar performance at the French Open, losing in three sets to fellow teenager Coco Gauff.

Her exploits at the All England club are being cheered on from her home country, with her grandfather Petr – on her birthday – being one of her cheerleaders from afar.

“Today [Sunday] It’s my grandfather’s birthday,” said the world number 102.

“They were watching my match, like the 50 people they invited. I got a lot of support [on Sunday]Even more kind messages from my family.

“I’ve already talked to my grandparents. I said happy birthday. I can say I got a lot of messages from my family.

“I feel supported from Krasnoyarsk as well. A lot of people are supporting me.”