Mirra Andreeva’s Madrid magic from 2023 has made a return engagement in 2024.
The 16-year-old Andreeva stormed into the Mutua Madrid Open Round of 16 for the second straight year, clinching that spot with a 7-5, 6-1 upset of No.7 seed Marketa Vondrousova, the reigning Wimbledon champion.
Andreeva needed just 1 hour and 15 minutes to dismiss Vondrousova and notch the second Top 10 win of her career. Andreeva’s first Top 10 win came over Ons Jabeur in the second round of this year’s Australian Open, which she also pulled off in straight sets.
As a wild card last year in Madrid, Andreeva romped into the Round of 16 in her breakthrough event ranked No.194. Since then, Andreeva has skyrocketed into the Top 50, peaking at No.33, and was named last season’s WTA Newcomer of the Year.
When Mirra Andreeva puts on the jets 🚀#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/XwnlULHZGw
— wta (@WTA) April 28, 2024
No.10 seed Daria Kasatkina and unseeded Yulia Putintseva also notched third-round wins on Sunday, and they will face each other in the Round of 16 on Monday. Kasatkina won their only previous meeting, in the 2018 Wimbledon second round by 6-2, 6-3.
Kasatkina defeated No.20 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in two tight sets, 7-6(5), 7-5. It took Kasatkina 1 hour and 52 minutes to pick up her fifth win in seven meetings with Pavlyuchenkova.
Kasatkina and Pavlyuchenkova came into their showdown with identical 17-9 win-loss records in 2024. It was Kasatkina who recorded her 18th win of the season, fending off 40 winners by Pavlyuchenkova in the match. Kasatkina is a win away from matching her 2018 run to the Madrid quarterfinals.
Putintseva eased past Caroline Dolehide 6-2, 6-2 in 67 minutes on Sunday, moving into the Madrid Round of 16 for the first time since 2019. Putintseva faced only one break point in the match and never dropped serve.
After a February Middle East swing where she never got out of qualifying, Putintseva rebounded during March’s Sunshine Double, making the Indian Wells fourth round and the Miami quarterfinals. Putintseva’s ranking improved from No.80 to No.50 in a six-week span.
More to come…
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