Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva put her school work to one side Wednesday and instead underlined her huge potential by crushing sixth seed Ons Jabeur in under an hour at the Australian Open.
Playing her first main draw at Melbourne Park, Andreeva was electric in downing the three-time Grand Slam runner-up 6-0, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena in just 54 minutes.
Ranked 47, it was her first win over a top-10 player, having burst onto the scene when she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year as a qualifier.
“I was really nervous before the match, but I saw that she was nervous too. It kind of helped me, because I know I’m not the only one who is nervous before the match,” said Andreeva.
“I decided to just enjoy, because it’s Rod Laver Arena, I’m playing against the person that I like. I decided just to play, and I think I played OK.”
It was her second appearance on Melbourne’s centre court after last year losing the girls final to fellow Russian Alina Korneeva.
She admitted it left her “super upset” and drove her forward against Jabeur. “Today when I saw that I play on Rod Laver, I said that this time I have to take my chance and I have to win on the big court for the first time, and so I did,” she said.
Andreeva made her Grand Slam bow at the French Open last year with a run to the third round after coming through qualifying, ahead of her exploits at Wimbledon.—AFP
