Russian teen sensation Mirra Andreeva has powered into the second round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets triumph over Czech Marie Bouskova.
Andreeva made it to the fourth round on debut at Melbourne Park last year as a 16-year-old and then advanced all the way to the semi-finals at the French Open.
The No.14 seed ousted Bouskova 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 34 minutes on Sunday to set up a second-round clash with either Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima or Magda Linette from Poland.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms forced the suspension of play on the outside courts after an hour of action on day one.
But the action was able to continue under closed roofs on the three main show courts, including Andreeva’s match against Bouskova on John Cain Arena.
The 17-year-old Andreeva clinched victory on her first match point with a powerful forehand volley winner.
“Honestly it was a bit hard for me when they started closing the roof (mid-match),” said the Russian, who is coached by former Wimbledon champ Conchita Martinez.
” … it was not easy. but it’s three times better than waiting, going back to the court and then going back to the players lounge.
“I’m very happy today that I played in a stadium with a roof.”
The Russian was the first winner on day one of the opening grand slam of the year.
Andreeva was joined in round two by red-hot fifth seed Qinwen Zheng, who is already making a case she’s set to go one step further than last year’s run to the title decider in Melbourne.
The Chinese superstar had to fend off a set point in the opening stanza before storming to a 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 victory over Romanian Anca Todini.
“First round is always not easy, but I want to say thank you for all the crowd for supporting me,” Zheng told fans after the match finished under a closed roof at Rod Laver Arena following a flash storm in Melbourne.
Zheng shapes as a huge threat to Aryna Sabalenka’s title defence after backing up her maiden grand slam final appearance with a blazing 2024 campaign.
The 22-year-old made five more finals, winning Olympic gold in Paris and falling only to Coco Gauff in the showpiece season-ending champion decider.
Belarusian Sabalenka begins her bid for a third straight Open title on Sunday evening against American Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion.
Other women’s seeds in action on day one include No.17 Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine, No.18 Donna Vekic from Croatia and 30th-seeded Canadian Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up.
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au