‘Breathless’ Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva reaches Wimbledon second week

LONDON – Ambitious Russian prodigy Mirra Andreeva, playing in her first senior grass-court tournament at the age of 16, upset her compatriot and 22nd seed Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 7-5 on Sunday to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon, despite admitting she was “out of breath almost every point”.

Andreeva, who had to come through qualifying, was playing only her sixth grass-court match but looked fresh and composed on Court Three and produced some stunning strokes to down her seasoned 22-year-old opponent.

However, she said: “I have been working on (my emotions) really hard with my coaches, with my parents, we talked a lot. Now I know it is easier or better to control my emotions on court.

“But today, honestly, even if I wanted to show some emotions, I honestly couldn’t because I was out of breath almost every point.”

The teenager, ranked 102nd in the world, caught the eye when she reached the third round at her first Grand Slam at the French Open in June and has now gone one better.

She is already looking ahead to 2024 when she hopes to be a seed rather than a qualifier.

Andreeva took the first set in half an hour before Potapova had time to settle, with a rare move to the net and a volley winner.

Potapova, who won the junior title here in 2016, found some range and consistency at the start of the second set and broke twice to lead 4-1, but Andreeva discovered new reserves of energy and fight and took three games in a row.

A clearly frustrated Potapova, admonishing herself when shots went awry, then needed to defend seven break points in an exhausting game lasting almost 10 minutes.

But Andreeva, who now lives and trains in Cannes in the south of France, was undeterred and continued to show remarkable maturity and calm. She broke serve for 6-5 and triumphed after 1hr 35min when Potapova dumped a lob into the net.

She said she was feeling great after her second-set comeback and was enjoying the atmosphere at the All England Club.

“It is just amazing here,” she said. “You see all the pro players, you see (Novak) Djokovic, you see (Andy) Murray... yes, the atmosphere is great and I hope next year I will be in a different locker room (for seeds) that is the level above.”

Andreeva will play American Madison Keys, the 25th seed, in the fourth round.

Already into the quarter-finals is Jessica Pegula, who enjoyed one of those scarcely believable days at Wimbledon as her racket oozed winners left, right and centre in a 6-1, 6-3 destruction of luckless Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko.

Tsurenko was left slapping her thighs and talking animatedly into her racket but, no matter what she tried, it seemed like her game had slipped into a terminal coma.

Fourth seed Pegula raced into a 5-0 lead on No. 1 Court, as her unseeded opponent struggled to get a foothold in the match.

Tsurenko, 34, eventually got on the board but it only delayed the inevitable victory for the 29-year-old American.

Pegula will face unseeded Czech player Marketa Vondrousova, who beat Marie Bouzkova in the last 16.

In the men’s draw, Grigor Dimitrov dispatched American 10th seed Frances Tiafoe in straight sets with a convincing 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory to move into the fourth round, where he will meet Danish sixth seed Holger Rune.

Tiafoe arrived at the All England Club having captured his first grass-court title at the Stuttgart Open in June but it was the experienced Dimitrov, a former semi-finalist here and Queen’s Club quarter-finalist in June, who prevailed over two days.

“He’s such a dangerous player and I knew I had to be very focused. He’s the type of player who has a great serve, great return. So I was just looking after my game,” said Dimitrov, 32, who won the ATP Finals in London in 2017.

“The past weeks have been, in a way, very amazing weeks for me out here in England. I’m just enjoying every single day... It’s amazing to be also in the second week. I love playing on Sunday.”

In another upset, unseeded Russian Roman Safiullin reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final when he secured a shock 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win over 26th seed Denis Shapovalov. REUTERS, AFP