By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday July 25, 2024
The Russian teen battled from the brink to book her maiden WTA final at Lasi, Romania.
Photo Source: Getty
In her short but meteoric WTA career, Mirra Andreeva has made a habit out of battling from difficult positions to earn hard-fought victories. She did that again on Thursday in Lasi, saving two match points to defeat Serbia’s Olga Danilovic, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(1).
With her back against the wall in the decider, Andreeva saved a pair of match points from 2-5, 15-40, then rallied back to level at 5-all. Her work wasn’t done, however, as she was forced into a tiebreak by Danilovic.
Andreeva won seven of the final eight points to book her spot in the final alongside compatriot Elina Avenasyan.
The victory is Andreeva’s fifth from a set down in 2024, and she improves to 6-4 overall in deciders.
The 32nd-ranked Russian, who turned 17 on April 29, was the WTA’s newcomer of the year in 2023. She has had no sophomore jinx in 2024. Andreeva reached her maiden Grand Slam semifinal at Roland-Garros in June.
"Honestly, I imagined that I already lost the match, so I just changed my mindset and just go for it, no matter what," Andreeva said after her win. "I tried to keep playing my aggressive game, but the most important [thing] was finding the balance between rushing and waiting for the mistakes. I managed to find the balance today in this match.”
It will be a battle of maiden WTA finalists on Friday, as Avanesyan survived double duty on Thursday, defeating Jaqueline Cristian 7-5, 6-4 before toppling Chloe Paquet 6-2, 6-3.
Andreeva defeated Avanesyan in straight sets on the red clay of Rouen earlier this spring.