Mirra Andreeva is through to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second time in her career after defeating Hailey Baptiste in straight sets.
Andreeva beat Baptiste 6-1, 6-3 to continue her flawless run at the championships, having not dropped a set yet in SW19.
In her triumph, the 18-year-old became the youngest woman to win 10 or more Grand Slam singles matches in a calendar year since Caroline Wozniacki in 2008.
The Russian, who made the fourth round in her debut campaign at Wimbledon in 2023, spoke after the match about the differences in her game this season compared to two years ago.
Mirra Andreeva reacts to making the fourth round of Wimbledon
Following her victory over the American, Andreeva said: “Yeah, honestly, I can say that today, for some reason, I was so focused, because I watched her first-round match, and I knew this match was going to be tough.
“She creates a lot of different stuff on the court, she breaks the rhythm, and she serves great and has a rocket on her forehand.
“I just tried to stay focused, to focus on what I have to do and try to do as few mistakes as I can, and really go for my shots and try to put as many balls in the court as I can.”
When asked how different she is from two years ago, she answered: “I can say that when I first played Wimbledon, I played qualies in Roehampton, so before going on my first match, I said to myself, well Mirra, what do you want?
“It’s your first match on grass, go out there and do something, at least win a couple of games, so it seems like it was a tough match.
“I didn’t expect much from myself because I’d never played on grass, I just practiced like a week. Then I played my first match, compared to those times, now I expect something from myself, it’s not that easy anymore, but I’m also trying to find that mindset to let myself go and to enjoy.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do the last couple of days, and I feel like with every match I play, I play better and better, and my level is rising.”
Former British player Laura Robson said of Andreeva: [She] just had more in the locker today, the better mover out there, which made such a huge difference as the match went on, but just didn’t panic.
“[She] knew and recognised when she lost concentration for a moment there in the second set and came up with the goods.
“Probably a touch better in all areas, that’s what got her over the line in a lovely hour and 18 minutes, she’ll be happy with that.”
Mirra Andreeva becomes fourth to achieve feat at Wimbledon
With her win over Baptiste, Andreeva is now the fourth woman this century to make the fourth round at the first three majors of the season before turning 19 years old.
She follows Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova, and Nicole Vaidisova in the list of WTA players to achieve the remarkable feat.
Andreeva made it to round four at the Australian Open before bowing out to Aryna Sabalenka, and reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, where she lost to Lois Boisson.
In her next match at Wimbledon, she’ll face the winner of defending champion Barbora Krejcikova and Emma Navarro.
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