Andreeva routs Jabeur in Australian Open second round

Mirra Andreeva won against Ons Jabeur 6-0, 6-2 on Wednesday night and will face the winner of the match between Russian Kamilla Rakhimova and Frenchwoman Diane Parry in the next round

Mirra Andreeva US Open 2023 Image Credit: Chryslene Caillaud _ Panoramic

Ricky Dimon

January 17, 2024

Australian Open •Second round • completed

See draw

O. JabeurvsM. Andreeva

Ons Jabeur may be one of Mirra Andreeva’s idols, but Andreeva handled the occasion of their first-ever head-to-head meeting like a battle-hardened veteran on Wednesday at the Australian Open. Andreev pulled off a surprisingly convincing upset of No 6 seed Ons Jabeur, winning 6-0, 6-2 in a mere 54 minutes.

Andreeva won 85 percent of her first-serve points and saved the only break point she faced. The 16-year-old benefited from a subpar performance by Jabeur, who was out of sorts the entire time. Jabeur finished with more than twice as many unforced errors (24) as winners (nine).

it was one of my dreams to play against her.
Mirra Andreeva

“Of course I’m happy I played with Ons,” Andreeva said. “It was one of my dreams to play against her, because I really like the way she plays. As I said before, I’m inspired by her. So it means a lot.

“I didn’t think I was going to win to be honest. I was just thinking try to win seven or eight games if possible…. I was just trying to be aggressive because I know she has a lot of slices and drop-shots and she would beat me at all those games.”

In the end, Jabeur did not beat Andreeva at anything. For her efforts, the teenager is expected to reach at least No 34 in the rankings even if she loses her next match.

Andreeva favored in her next match

That next one will come against the winner of a contest between Kamilla Rakhimova and Diane Parry. Prior to Wednesday’s victory the Russian beat American Bernarda Pera 7-5, 6-2.

Jabeur had previously defeated Ukrainian qualifier Yulia Starodubtseva 6-3, 6-1.