Paula Badosa showed once again why she once rose to the world no. 2 spot on the WTA Tour, beating Mirra Andreeva at the 2024 Italian Open.
The 17-year-old is one of the most talented players on the WTA Tour, and clay is her best surface. She had a major breakthrough on it last year in Madrid, and this year, she was able to push even further, reaching the quarter-finals of the event.
After losing to the eventual finalist, Aryna Sabalenka, the Russian moved to the Italian capital, where the draw was ruthless to her, as she had to take on former world no. 2 Badosa.
Ahead of the match, however, the teenager expressed excitement about getting to play Badosa, as she saw it as an opportunity to learn from the best on her journey to becoming a top player.
What she learned, however, was how brutal top players can be on the WTA Tour on their good day. Badosa started by breaking her opponent's serve twice, and quickly in the first set, she led 4-0.
Andreeva was able to recover one of the breaks, and then also another one, however, the problem was that during the entirety of the first set, she wasn't able to keep her serve, losing the set 2-6.
The second set was much better for the Russian in that regard, as she even had two break points in the opening game. Yet, she couldn't use her chances, and in the next game, Badosa broke her serve again to lead 2-0 and then 3-0 in the second set.
Andreeva was then able to hold her serve for the remainder of the set, but that wasn't enough to turn it around, as the same applied also to her opponent, as Badosa won the match 6-2, 6-3 to set up a second-round clash with the 21st-seeded Emma Navarro.