The first time Mirra Andreeva showed herself to the world of tennis was last year at the Madrid Open, where her run was stopped by Aryna Sabalenka, and one year later, the same thing happened.
Last year, a 16-year-old Andreeva was beaten by Sabalenka in the fourth round of the Madrid Open. It was the end of the journey for the Russian, who demonstrated her tremendous talent for the first time on the big stage.
One year later, 17-year-old Andreeva was beaten by Sabalenka again. It was once again in two sets, but this time around, it happened in the quarter-finals, so we can say that the teenager was even better this year. The world no. 2, on the other hand, has had some interesting matches so far in Madrid.
Some of those matches were barely wins as she struggled to really find her best tennis. Others like this one against Andreeva were very impressive showings. The first set here was a dominant win by Sabalenka, who just used her tremendous power to overwhelm the teenager.
Andreeva doesn't have much power in her shots yet, which puts her in a tough spot against players like the second-seeded Sabalenka, who can easily overpower her. The second set was more competitive, but it wasn't that much better for Andreeva.
She was able to serve a bit better and play a bit better on her serve. That ensured that she wouldn't get broken as easily as in the opening set, keeping the match closer. The problem was that she still couldn't really put a lot of pressure on Sabalenka, who was too strong on her serve.
The final score was 6-1, 6-4 for Sabalenka, who moves into another semi-final in Madrid. She's now only one match away from making another final in the Spanish capital.
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