PARIS: Rising Russian teen star Mirra Andreeva booked her ticket to the second round of the French Open on Tuesday, recovering from an early double break before reeling off a straight sets win over Spain’s Cristina Bucsa.
Sixth seed Andreeva, who had an impressive run to the semifinals at Roland Garros last year, advanced 6-4, 6-3 past her 98th-ranked opponent with two aces and four breaks of serve.
“I just tried not to think about last year’s results,” said the 18-year-old.
“It’s always tough to start a tournament. I felt like she was playing good today. My goal was just to keep fighting, playing, and showing everything I can, trying to put a lot of balls in the court. Then in the end, point by point, I managed to find my rhythm.”
Playing her first Grand Slam match as a top-10 seed, the player from Siberia needed to come back from 3-0 down in the first set in damp and chilly conditions in Paris.
“If it’s cold I suffer a bit in (the) warm-up,” said Andreeva. “But to be honest I don’t feel the difference when either it’s hot or cold.”
Andreeva pulled out a winner down the line to revive her game when Bucsa was serving at 3-0, 30-0.
She won 10 of the next 12 games to take a 4-1 second-set lead and needed just one break of serve in the second, sealing victory with 25 winners to Bucsa’s 16.
She next plays either American Ashlyn Krueger or Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands for a place in the third round.
The Russian reached the quarter-finals on clay in both Madrid and Rome, losing both times to American Coco Gauff.
“It’s not what I would wish for. But I can say that overall these two tournaments on clay that I played, they were not that bad,” she said.
“There are a lot of positives that I can take and a lot of experience that I also can take with me. Now I’m going to try to do everything I can the best way I can while I’m playing here.”
