Mirra Andreeva Shows Steel In Opening Round Display

Mirra Andreeva booked a place in the French Open second round with a convincing 6-4 6-3 victory over Cristina Bucsa. After a sloppy start, she turned it around and now faces either Suzan Lamens or Ashlyn Kreuger on Thursday. Nevertheless, what does this performance mean? Is she one of the contenders?

Just a couple of months ago Andreeva was the in-form player on tour. A WTA 500 title in Dubai followed by a historic win at the BNP Paribas Open meant she climbed as high as third in the race to Riyadh. Although she hasn’t transferred this title-winning form into the clay court season yet, as many thought she would considering her success in Paris last year. An early loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova in Stuggart, plus two quarterfinal straight sets defeats to Coco Gauff in Madrid and Rome, have prevented her from reaching a semi-final. A bit of perspective, though–an 18-year-old sitting as World #6 is no mean feat.

So, in the same quarter as Paula Badosa and Jessica Pegula, how far can she go? Is another semifinal on the cards? Either way, she started Tuesday as she means to go on.

Mirra Andreeva Advances to the Second Round

Gameplans Made Clear

From the first point the respective gameplans were made clear. Andreeva would try to make it a baseline battle while Bucsa would look to bring in a lot of slice and drop shots to get Andreeva as far away from the strike zone as possible. Of course, it’s a lesser of two evils, as the 18-year-old is incredibly comfortable at the net, frequently honing those skills in the doubles game. Let’s not forget, less than a year ago she won a Silver Medal at the Olympic Games. Moreover, her movement, anticipation, and balance are as good as it gets.

A Slow Start to the First Set

Andreeva failed to come out the blocks flying, with Bucsa winning the opening three games. She seemed to struggle with Bucsa’s aggressive court positioning, often coming into the net to shorten the points. As mentioned, she also frequently utilized the drop shot and was playing with a lot of angle on her ground strokes. In the cold conditions, Andreeva seemed to struggle to find her range early on.

Mature Game Management From Andreeva

Yet, a characteristic throughout the match was the difference in performance on the pressure points. Even as early as three games in, this became apparent. Serving 3-0 and 30-0 up, Bucsa seems in cruise control. However, as we see with so many top players, at this point the tide began to turn. Andreeva found a new gear. Without necessarily changing her game plan, the shots that were going slightly long or finding the net were now dropping in. She won the next four points to stem the flow, and earn a break back.

From that point on you felt as though Bucsa was holding on for dear life. She managed to hold serve once more to lead 4-2, but a run of 14 points out of 16 for Andreeva meant that the Spaniard was serving to stay in the set. At 15-40 down, Bucsa produced some excellent tennis, almost as though the pressure of expectation has been lifted off her shoulder. Yet, after two excellent points to bring the game to deuce, she followed it up with two poor points to hand Andreeva the set. Ultimately, the difference in the first set was Andreeva’s ability to produce when it mattered.

A Fighting Bucsa Deserves Credit

This pattern continued in the second set. Andreeva opened by winning a tight deuce game and never looked back. Bucsa struggled on serve. Essentially, she had to be perfect, any serve in the strike zone for Andreeva was being fired back at her, placing her straight away on the backfoot, and therefore losing the upper hand in the rally.

Her only real hope was to make the game as awkward as possible. At times she was able to produce great angles and drop shots to make Andreeva uncomfortable but even at such a young age, the Russian is such a complete player. This approach became less successful as the game went on as Andreeva slowly but surely figured her opponent out, and was rarely wrong-footed in the latter stages. The drop shots no longer came as a surprise, she was retrieving the ball, balanced and in plenty of time.

Serving Performance

If there was one thing which Andreeva must improve, it’s her first serve percentage. Over the course of an hour and twenty three minutes, she made just 51% of her first serves. As the tournament progresses, that simply won’t be good enough.

On the other hand, the timing of her serving was positive. In the most crucial points, she was able to produce excellent power and placement, ultimately leaving Bucsa with no chance. For example, serving 4-2 up in the second set but trailing 0-30, for a brief moment it seemed we had a game on her hands. Andreeva then found her first two aces of the match in the next three points and stormed into a 5-2 lead.

There will be days when her A-game isn’t there, but the ability to raise her level when it really matters will stand her in really good stead over the coming fortnight.