LONDON — Mirra Andreeva‘s fairy-tale Wimbledon debut came to an end after the 16-year-old from Russia was beaten 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 by Madison Keys, who battled back from a set and a break down to win the fourth-round tie Monday.
World No. 102 Andreeva, who was looking to become the youngest player to reach the last eight of the grass-court Grand Slam since Anna Kournikova in 1997, fought valiantly against Keys but was ultimately overwhelmed by the experienced American player.
Keys, 28, began the match in typically aggressive fashion, firing off powerful returns and groundstrokes to break serve and go 2-0 ahead.
However, Andreeva broke back immediately courtesy of a lucky net cord before showing great variation to upset Keys’ rhythm, making her opponent uncomfortable with slices and drop shots as she broke twice more in quick succession to take the opener.
Keys continue to commit a stream of unforced errors as Andreeva raced to a 3-0 lead in the second, but the 25-seed upped her game, putting the match back on serve with a delicate left-handed winner and forcing a tiebreak, which she won.
The breaker seemed to take the wind out of Andreeva’s sails. Keys stormed into an early 2-0 lead in the third set after Andreeva double faulted in her opening service game, before finishing off her opponent in a shade over two hours.
Keys will next play Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated No. 21 Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-0. The second-seeded Sabalenka won the Australian Open this year and has a 16-1 record in major tournaments in 2023.
Also Monday, defending champion Elena Rybakina was given an easy ride into the Wimbledon quarters after Beatriz Haddad Maia retired midway through the first set with a back injury.
Rybakina had just broken for a 3-1 lead in the first set when the Brazilian 13-seed winced in pain and clutched her back after netting a backhand.
Haddad Maia called on the physio and kept wincing as her back was being manipulated courtside. After leaving court to receive further treatment she returned in an attempt to resume the match following a 10 minute interval.
However, the way she stiffly bent down to pick up her racket from her chair to resume the contest signaled that the match might soon be over.
She tearfully went through the motions for one more game, clutching her back after every point before shaking her head to confirm that she could no longer continue.
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