Mirra Andreeva Stuttgart Open dreams crushed after a poor day on court!
Mirra Andreeva’s quest to win the Stuttgart Open and with it a shiny new Porsche came to a crashing end today when she was defeated in straight sets by Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova. The 30-year-old number 22 in the world broke no sweat dispatching her younger opponent 6-3, 6-2 in just over an hour’s play.
Andreeva came into this tournament in good form, having clinched back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments at the Dubai Tennis Championships and Indian Wells. Although she fell in the round of 32 in Miami, Andreeva looked to be in good shape after her first-round victory over her sister Erika.
The Russian, on the other hand, hasn’t had too many big wins this year, but today’s display to knock out the number 7-ranked Andreeva was worth praising. She took the fight to her higher-ranked opponent and played a near-flawless game.
No Recovery For Andreeva After Slow Start
The tone for the match was clearly set in the opening set itself with Andreeva struggling from the get-go. In spite of earning a break in the very first service game, the world number 7 gave the break back after a string of unforced errors.
From 1-1, Alexandrova took control of the set, jumping to a 3-1 lead with accurate service and powerful, yet clean groundstrokes that forced Andreeva to scramble around the court. Andreeva was presented with a glimmer of hope as she then broke her compatriot to once again get back on serve at 2-3, but another poor service game handed the advantage back to Alexandrova, who then went on to finish the first set 6-3.
The second set was more of the same as the struggling Andreeva could find no answers. Serving first in the second set, Andreeva relinquished her serve and quickly fell down 0-2. The teenager’s service was under threat for most part of the match as Alexandrova did a fine job of staying aggressive. Alexandrova went on to finish the match in style with a perfectly placed cross-court backhand resulting in a 6-3, 6-2 win.
Andreeva vs. Alexandrova Match Stats
While both players had 2 double faults each, Alexandrova had 8 aces in the match as against 4 for Andreeva. Alexandrova’s powerful yet accurate serve is evidenced by her 64% first-serve percentage, while Andreeva struggled at just 48%. Probably the biggest stat from this match was the 11 breakpoint opportunities Alexandrova had on her opponent’s serve, from which she converted on 5 of those.
Mirra Andreeva Stat Ekaterina Alexandrova
4 Aces 8
2 Double Faults 2
48% First serve % 64%
67% Win % on 1st serve 66%
33% Win % on 2nd serve 63%
2/3 Break points 5/11
43 Points won 57