Mirra Andreeva dipped her toes into some hard-court tennis, and it proved a winning effort, but the real test is coming up against Sloane Stephens at the 2023 Cleveland Open.
Andreeva has been utterly spectacular on both clay courts and grass courts earlier this year. She pulled off good runs at Wimbledon and at Roland Garros, leaving fans wondering what might happen at the US Open. She's in the main draw, so she won't have to play the qualifiers like she had to previously, which gives her a chance to prepare for the major with a WTA event.
She chose the Cleveland Open and made a winning start against qualifier Tamara Korpatsch. It was a brilliant start, 6-0, but then she lost the second set. Eventually, the Russian still got it done in three sets. Now, she will face Sloane Stephens as the American aims to keep her good momentum going.
Head-to-head:
Andreeva and Stephens have never played so far, which is expected. The Russian is favoured, though, which might be a bit surprising considering the level Stephens has played recently. She's been pretty solid, and one should expect another solid effort from here in this one.
Prediction:
Andreeva did really well in her first match here, but I don't think things will be as easy in this one. Stephens has played pretty good tennis recently, beating some good players, and I fully expect her to keep winning. She did play a tough round one here, so fatigue might be a worry, but generally, I think she has enough to beat Andreeva.
If you press the Russian she tends to cave under the pressure but seeing her win here wouldn't surprise me either. There just seems to be something missing for her on hard courts, at least that was the impression from her previous match.
Prediction: Sloane Stephens to win in three sets.
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