Stuttgart. There was a big upset in the Stuttgart Open tennis tournament, where young Russian player Mirra Andreeva defeated two-time champion Iga Swiatek and reached the semi-finals. Now she will face top seed Elena Rybakina.
18-year-old Andreeva made a brilliant comeback to defeat Swiatek 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. After falling behind in the first set, Andreeva showed tremendous play and won the match by breaking serve twice in the deciding set.
Earlier, top seed Rybakina defeated Canada’s Leyla Fernandez 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) in a tough match to enter the semi-finals. The match lasted for almost three hours, in which Rybakina registered a spectacular victory by saving two match points in the final set tiebreak.
After the match, Rybakina said, “There was a lot of frustration in the beginning and my serve was not working. But gradually I collected myself and found my rhythm.”
Swiatek, who has won four of her six Grand Slam titles on the clay courts of the French Open, was considered the favorite in this match, but could not stand against Andreeva’s aggressive game.
It is noteworthy that Andreeva had also eliminated defending champion Jelena Ostapenko in the first round, due to which her confidence had already increased.
“I was telling myself that no matter what, I have to keep fighting and keep believing that I can win the match no matter what,” Andreeva said after the match. Now the match between Andreeva and Rybakina in the semi-finals is expected to be very exciting.
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