Eighth seed Mirra Andreeva breezed into the third round of the Australian Open, dismantling Maria Sakkari 6–0 6–4 in a commanding display on Margaret Court Arena.
The 19-year-old Russian, who has reached the fourth round in Melbourne in each of the previous two years, blew Sakkari off the court in a devastating opening set. Andreeva converted three of her seven break points to hand the Greek a bagel, while saving all three break points she faced in a pivotal fourth game to maintain complete control of the contest.
Sakkari, who won just 15% of her first-serve points in the opening set, was broken again at the start of the second. Although she briefly rallied by breaking back to level at 3–3, Andreeva continued to apply relentless pressure, particularly on her opponent’s serve.
That sustained intensity eventually told, with the world No. 53 cracking in the ninth game, surrendering the decisive break and allowing the Russian to close out an impressive display.
In her on-court interview after the match, Andreeva said a tough start to her draw may have worked in her favour, with early-round matches against Donna Vekić and Sakkari helping her settle into the tournament quickly.
“When I saw the draw I was like, “wow,” its not the easiest draw you can have. Donna and Maria are both amazing players. I don’t know how it helps to be honest, maybe it helps to be nervous earlier. Seriously, I think it helps to be 100% since the first match.”
She was also asked whether her title run at the Adelaide International the previous week had given her added confidence heading into Melbourne.
“Of course having a great week of playing before the Grand Slam helps a lot. It gives a lot of confidence. It helps to get into the match rhythm. I know the statistic that winner’s of Adelaide do, not bad, here in Melbourne but I’m not going to think about it. I’m going to take it match by match then we’ll see if that statistic works for me.”
Andreeva will face Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the third round on Friday.
