Wimbledon: Elina Svitolina beats Victoria Azarenka in final set tiebreak after 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva makes history
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Updated 10/07/2023 at 07:07 GMT
After reaching the third round of Roland-Garros in her first Grand Slam, it has taken just one further attempt for 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva to make the second week of a major as she stunned 22nd seed Anastasia Potapova at Wimbledon. Andreeva came through three matches in qualifying to get into the main draw and has now equalled Coco Gauff's run to the fourth round from 2019.
Wimbledon Day 7 highlights: Djokovic match suspended, wins for Swiatek and Svitolina
Mirra Andreeva has become the youngest player to make the fourth round of Wimbledon since Coco Gauff after beating Anastasia Potapova 6-2 7-5, while Elina Svitolina emerged victorious in a thrilling nail-biting encounter with Victoria Azarenka.
Andreeva, 16, stormed through the first set against the 22nd seed, and though the second set was much tighter, the young prodigy showed remarkable nerve to come through in straight sets.
After coming through qualifying, Andreeva now has a round-of-16 tie with former US Open finalist and 25th seed Madison Keys to look forward to.
Speaking on court afterwards, she said: "I've been working on that [the mental side] really hard with my coaches, with my parents, we talked a lot.
"Now I know how it's easier or better for me to control my emotions on court, always stay calm.
"But today, honestly, even if I wanted to show some emotions, I honestly couldn't because I was out of breath almost every point, and I really couldn't show any emotions."
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Mirra Andreeva in Wimbledon
Image credit: Getty Images
It was a barnstorming start from the youngster on Court 3, racing into a 5-1 lead that soon become 6-2, with the opening set to her name.
Potapova had already bettered her own best-ever performance at Wimbledon by reaching the third round, and she sought to keep alive her hopes in set two by moving into the early lead at 4-1.
However, Andreeva was not for giving up and recovered to 5-4, whereupon she staged a remarkable recovery.
Saving two set points on her own serve, she then proceeded to hold before breaking Potapova to stand on the verge of victory.
And she served it out to take her place in the second week in what is only her second Grand Slam, going one better than her third-round appearance at the recent French Open.
Later on in the day, Svitolina set up a quarter-final match with world No. 1 Iga Swiatek following a narrow win over Azarenka.
Wild card Svitolina needed two hours and 46 minutes to overcome No. 19 seed Azarenka 2-6 6-4 7-6(9) after coming through victorious in a final-set tiebreak.
Trailing Azarenka by a set and a break at 6-2 2-0, Svitolina demonstrated her resilience to take the win, prevailing after an enthralling tiebreak that ended 11-9 in favour of the Ukrainian.
In the women's doubles, there was a second-round win for Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden, the British pair defeating Magda Linette and Bernarda Pera.
Elsewhere on Sunday, there was a convincing win for fourth seed Jessica Pegula against Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko, as the American made it into her first-ever quarter-final at SW19.
The American came through 6-1 6-3 on No. 1 Court as she showcased all of her credentials for a possible title charge.
Pegula was 5-0 ahead in the opener before her opponent even got on the board, and was similarly ruthless in the second as Tsurenko, despite breaking late on, struggled to find any answers, with a late injury issue not helping her cause.
In the last eight, Pegula will take on Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who saw off compatriot Marie Bouzkova 2-6 6-4 6-3.
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You can watch daily highlights from Wimbledon at 10pm on Eurosport 2 and discovery+ from July 3, as well as the two singles finals live on July 15 and 16.
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