Andreeva thrashes Rybakina to reach her first Indian Wells quarter-final

Russian Mirra Andreeva, the No 9 seed, won against Kazakh Elena Rybakina, the No 7 seed, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells WTA 1000 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Tuesday.

Andreeva needed just 67 minutes to send Rybakina packing.

She hit aces twice and won 80 percent of her first-serve points, breaking the Kazakh six times with an average of 69 percent on the second-serve return to secure a place in the Tennis Paradise quarter-finals for the first time.

This was Andreeva’s second win against Rybakina in less than a month as she previously beat the latter (semi-finals) during her triumphant run in Dubai in February.

“I knew that the match was going to be incredibly tough because she [Rybakina] has won the tournament here [2023],” Andreeva said after the win. “I think she’s very comfortable playing on this court so I just found a great mindset for this match and I just tried to fight for every point. I was so excited to play tonight, I don’t know for which reason, but sometimes it happens. So, I guess, with all the courage, I just went on court and try to show the best level of tennis.”

Andreeva, ranked No 11, will play Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the No 23 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the 17-year-old Russian defeated Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva (7-5, 6-4) and Dane Clara Tauson, the No 22 seed (6-3, 6-0).

Rybakina, ranked No 7, beat Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens (6-3, 6-3) and No 25 seed Katie Boulter (6-0, 7-5) in the previous rounds of the Indian Wells tournament.

Indian Wells WTA 1000, other last 16 results (Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hard, USD 8.963.700, most recent results first):

• Liudmila Samsonova vs. Jasmine Paolini
• Aryna Sabalenka vs. Sonay Kartal
• Donna Vekic vs. Madison Keys
• Coco Gauff vs. Belinda Bencic
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Marta Kostyuk
• Elina Svitolina beat Jessica Pegula (4): 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
• Iga Swiatek (2) beat Karolina Muchova (15): 6-1, 6-1

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