Young Russian Mira Andreeva, participating in her first Grand Slam tournament on grass at the age of 16, defeated fellow countrywoman and 22nd seed Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 7-5 on Sunday to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon. Andreeva, who qualified through the preliminaries, was playing her sixth match in the tournament but looked fresh and composed on Court 3, delivering some stunning shots to overcome her experienced opponent, who is 22 years old.
The young Russian, currently ranked 102nd in the world, caught attention when she reached the third round in her first Grand Slam last month at the French Open, but she has now achieved a better result. She secured the first set within half an hour before Potapova managed to find her footing with some rare net approaches and successful shots.
Potapova showed some resilience and consistency at the beginning of the second set, breaking her opponent's serve twice to lead 4-1, but Andreeva discovered new reserves of energy, fighting back and winning three consecutive games. Potapova, clearly frustrated, had to defend against seven break points in a grueling game that lasted about ten minutes. However, Andreeva did not waver and continued to display remarkable maturity and calmness. She broke her opponent's serve to go ahead 6-5 and won after one hour and 35 minutes when Potapova sent the ball into the net.
Andreeva will face American Madison Keys, seeded 25th, in the fourth round.
