Andreeva stuns Jabeur in Australian Open second round

MELBOURNE:

16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva put her schoolwork aside on Wednesday and instead underlined her huge potential by crushing sixth seed Ons Jabeur in less than an hour at the Australian Open.

Playing her first main draw at Melbourne Park, Andreeva demolished the three-time Grand Slam runner-up 6-0, 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena in just 54 minutes.

She was ranked 47th and it was her first win over a top-10 player since bursting onto the scene when she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year as a qualifier.

“I was very 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,” Andreeva said.

“I decided to enjoy it, because it’s Rod Laver Arena, I’m playing against the person I like. I just decided to play and I think I played OK.”

It was her second appearance on Melbourne’s main court after losing the girls’ final to Russia’s Alina Korneeva last year.

He admitted it left her “super upset” and led her forward against Jabeur.

“Today when I saw I was playing Rod Laver, I said this time I have to take my chance and win on the big court for the first time, and I did,” he said.

Andreeva made her Grand Slam bow at the French Open last year with a run to the third round after qualifying, ahead of her Wimbledon exploits.

In her only other Grand Slam, she lost in the second round of the US Open to eventual champion Coco Gauff.

She pursues her dream of a tennis career while still juggling at school.

“I still have a lot of school to do. It actually started two days ago, so I have to,” she said, adding that “I don’t like chemistry.”

At such a young age, Andreeva is limited by the WTA Tour in the number of tournaments she can play and said it was too early to think how far she could climb the rankings.

“I mean, I’m 16. Why should I think about rankings? I’m going up a little bit higher, and so my goal is to go higher and higher, maybe for a while but even higher,” he said. .

“So I don’t know. I just try not to think about that and just think about tennis and that’s it.”

The first set against the Tunisian was a 20-minute demolition job, with the 29-year-old Jabeur completely out of touch.

He scored just eight points in six games, and just three from the baseline, while committing 10 unforced errors.

Her serve was not comfortable, with only 38 percent of her first serve points won and just 13 percent on her second serve.

Jabeur, who has reached the final twice at Wimbledon and once at the US Open, finally held serve to break the point in the opening game of set two, raising her finger in celebration.

But the teenage Russian kept coming and broke again for a 2-1 lead, then made it 4-1 as Jabeur’s shoulders slumped, knowing it was all over.