Mirra Andreeva is a tennis prodigy but also human, as she was beaten surprisingly by Anna Bondar at the 2023 Lausanne Open.
The Russian has been utterly spectacular when it matters most this year. She was spectacular at the Madrid Open earning her first Top 20 win at the event. She then followed that up with a strong run at Roland Garros ending only when she run into former finalist Coco Gauff.
Wimbledon, too, was a spectacular event as she made it through the qualifiers to nearly make the second week in her first big event on grass. It earned her a Top 100 breakthrough on the WTA Tour. All of that has been amazing from Andreeva, but today wasn't. Today's performance wasn't as strong as it needed to be, and that's okay.
The 16-year-old is doing far more than anybody expected though her opponent today simply played a really strong match. The first set opened well for Andreeva, who took an early 3-0 lead which she held until she needed to serve out the set. It was 5-3 in one moment and 5-5 some minutes later.
The set extended until the tiebreak, one which Bondar played far better, taking it 7-3. The second set once again opened well for the youngster. She took an early lead 2-0 and held it until 3-1. Things quickly fell apart after that.
It's hard to say what happened, but Andreeva simply didn't muster the level needed to win the match. Bondar played an excellent match, one she finished off with a 5-0 run to secure the second set 6-3. The final score was 7-6(3) 6-3 for the Hungarian. She's a fine player on clay generally though things never clicked before this match.
It's a pity for Andreeva, but it was simply one of those matches where things go badly. She has only two bad losses in the past two months, and that's far more consistent than you'd expect from a 16-year-old.
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