Andreeva ousts Paolini to reach Cincinnati quarter-finals, gets Swiatek next

Mirra Andreeva moved into the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Open by knocking off Italian Jasmine Paolini, the No 5 seed, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati on Friday afternoon.

Andreeva, ranked No 24, will next run into top seed Iga Swiatek.

Friday’s showdown was a rematch of the recent Roland-Garros semi-finals, in which Poalini made quick work of Andreeva via a 6-3, 6-1 decision. They also faced each other in Madrid, where the teenager prevailed in straight sets. As such, Andreeva now leads the head-to-head series 2-1.

For a while it looked like Paolini would have the upper hand in this one. The reigning French Open and Wimbledon runner-up took the first set without too much trouble, but she could not maintain her level. Andreeva needed just one service break in the second set and she broke the Italian a whopping three times in the third to clinch victory.

The 17-year-old Russian beat American Emma Navarro, the No 11 seed (6-2, 6-2) and Karolina Pliskova (6-2, 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

In the previous round at this WTA Premier 1000, Paolini — ranked No 5 — defeated Russian Anastasia Potapova (7-6 (2), 6-3).

Cincinnati WTA 1000, other last 16 results:

• Qinwen Zheng vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
• Jessica Pegula vs. Taylor Townsend
• Paula Badosa vs. Yulia Putintseva
• Diana Shnaider vs. Leylah Fernandez
• Aryna Sabalenka (3) beat Elina Svitolina: 7-5, 6-2
• Liudmila Samsonova (10) beat Elina Avanesyan (LL): 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
• Iga Swiatek beat Marta Kostyuk (15): 6-2, 6-2

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