Mirra Andreeva hasn't played since the Australian Open, but she'll be back at the Dubai Championships battling a fellow youngster, Peyton Stearns.
The Russian's rise surprised many last year and some still struggle to really understand it. We haven't really seen a 16-year-old be this good consistently in a long time, even when considering Coco Gauff, who has already won a major.
The American was quite up and down as a 16-year-old, even though her talent was apparent. This is a bit different when it comes to Andreeva because wins like the one over Ons Jabeur in Melbourne are not rare at all.
She's been besting high-ranked players for basically a year, and even some of the best can't really escape it. The start of this year has been really good, with a 7-2 record so far, so let's see how well can she do at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai.
The opponent is Stearns, a young player who certainly has a bright future but is not on the level of Andreeva yet.
Head-to-head:
They never played against each other yet, which is kind of understandable as they both only broke through last year. Andreeva has been the more successful player so far, with more impressive wins and a higher ranking, but Stearns isn't that far behind.
The 22-year-old American has a fairly solid ranking and has some decent performances at some events as well. We'll see if she can step up and beat the Russian on a court, which is likely to favor Andreeva a bit more than her.
Prediction:
Dubai generally favours those who are good hitters and consistent from the baseline. Andreeva has that on lock, and she'll be able to push Stearns around a lot. I can see the American find some nice angles, but she's not consistent enough with it.
Prediction: Mirra Andreeva to win in two sets.
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