17-Year-Old Andreeva Becomes Youngest WTA Champion Since Gauff With Iasi Triumph

Mirra Andreeva is an incredible talent, and she proved it once again, winning her first WTA Tour-level title at the 2024 Iasi Open.

The 17-year-old entered the WTA 250 tournament in Iasi, Romania, most likely to fine-tune her form on clay ahead of the Olympic Games, where she will start in the first round of the singles competition against Magda Linette.

The Russian will compete also in doubles with Diana Shnaider, starting against Olivia Gadecki and Ajla Tomljanovic, and also in the mixed doubles competition with Daniil Medvedev, taking on Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori in the first round of the tournament.

She flew to Romania prior to the Olympics to get used to the red high-bouncing surface once again, entering the tournament as the top seed, and early on, it was quite obvious that she was the highest-ranked player in Iasi.

She started with a thrashing win over Noma Noha Akugue, losing only three games, and she bested also Aliaksandra Sasnovich, losing only four games in the process. She then outplayed also Lea Boskovic, against whom she lost even less, only two games.

The teenager then outplayed Olga Danilovic, but it was a three-set battle that she had to endure. Still, she won the match and reached her first Tour-level final, and she left the final match with the trophy in her hands.

However, it was one of the least desired scenarios for the youngster, as she has to fly to Paris as soon as possible. The match was supposed to start at 5 PM local time, but it had to be postponed until 9:15 PM because of rain.

In the final, she took on compatriot Elina Avanesyan, seeded fifth in Iasi, and the match got off to a really competitive start. Andreeva started with an early break, but she lost it very quickly, as the scoreboard showed 2-2.

The teenager then broke once again, but once again, she lost the one-break advantage, which meant that when she was down 5-6 in the opening set, the best-case scenario for her was escaping in a tie-break.

Still, that didn't happen as Avanesyan used one of her three break points in the 12th game of the opening set to win it 7-5 and start the match on a positive note.

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The second set couldn't be more identical to the first set than it was. Twice, the 17-year-old player led by one break, and twice, she lost the one-break advantage, and when the scoreboard showed 4-5 late in the second set, she was close to losing the match.

However, this time around, it was Andreeva who was the better player when it mattered, and she won nine points in a row to break her opponent's serve and win the second set 7-5.

In the third set, Andreeva got off to a great start, winning four games in a row to lead 4-0, and that's when Avanesyan made a decision to retire from the match as she was struggling with a knee issue, which meant that she couldn't continue.

That meant Andreeva won the match and also the 2024 Iasi Open, which marks her first career Tour-level trophy, becoming the youngest player to win such title on the WTA Tour since Coco Gauff, who won the Austria Open in Linz in 2019 as a 15-year-old.

Winning the trophy will be a great memory for Andreeva, but finishing thirty minutes before the midnight was certainly not ideal for her. Now, it's time for her to move to the French capital as soon as possible and try to repeat the same result under five Olympic rings.

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Mirra Andreeva is the champion in Iasi 💜 Avanesyan retired in the deciding set, final score: 5-7, 7-5, 4-0. #UniCreditIasiOpen

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