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Jabeur stunned by teenager Andreeva in Australian Open

World number six Ons Jabeur was stunned by 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the second round of the Australian Open.

Ons Jabeur during her Australian Open loss to Mirra Andreeva
Ons Jabeur during her Australian Open loss to Mirra Andreeva Picture: AAP Image

The 16-year-old was devastated to lose in the girls' singles final last year but quickly made an impression in the senior game with runs to the third round of the French Open and the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Andreeva only lost two games in the match as she brushed two-time Wimbledon finalist Jabeur aside 6-0 6-2 in a match that lasted just 54 minutes. 

Jabeur could only smile in astonishment at some of the shots Andreeva played, while she celebrated like an underdog when she finally won a game at the start of the second set.

She was unable to stall Andreeva for long, though, with the young Russian branding it the best match she has played.

"In the first set I played really amazing tennis, I didn't expect that from myself," said the teenager.

"I'm happy I played with Ons. It was one of my dreams to play against her, because I really like the way she plays. It meant a lot, this match that I won.

"She's so nice. Now, after the match, she came to me, she wished me luck. I just know that she is who she is and she never changes."

Andreeva is projected to rise inside the top 35 as a result of her run here despite being severely restricted in how many tournaments she can play because of her age.

She is trying not to be in too much of a hurry, saying: "I don't think that I achieve something incredible, so I have time still to do that. Sometimes when I'm lying in bed, I can overthink a little bit, but the next morning I'm totally fine.

"I'm 16. Why do I have to think about the rankings? I'm going a bit higher, and so my goal is to go higher and higher. I just try not to think about that and just to think about tennis."

Another young Russian making waves in Melbourne is 20-year-old qualifier Maria Timofeeva, who is playing in the main draw of a grand slam for the first time and ended former champion Caroline Wozniacki's comeback.

The Dane retired here four years ago and is back with her two young children in tow but she could not build on a strong start, losing 1-6 6-4 6-1.

Wozniacki has other responsibilities now but she could not hide her disappointment, saying: "I would like to say that in my mind I can just kind of brush it under the carpet but it sucks just as much.

"Losing now and losing back then, it doesn't really change. As a competitor, you want to win everything. When you have the family here and you bring everyone, you want to win even more because you want to stay longer and not have to move around.

"I felt like this was my match to win, and I didn't."

Remarkably, there were three 16-year-olds playing in the second round on Wednesday, but Andreeva is the only one left.

Her fellow Russian Alina Korneeva, who beat Andreeva in the junior final last year, was unable to exert any real pressure on 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, going down 6-1 6-2.

Then first up in the night session on Laver was Czech qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova, who had the daunting task of taking on defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.

Fruhvirtova was not overawed, though, and matched the second seed until 3-3 in the first set, when Sabalenka put together a run of seven games in a row.

Fruhvirtova earned cheers from the Laver crowd for stopping the rot thereafter, with a couple of searing winners showing that this was unlikely to be her only chance on the big stage.

Fourth seed Coco Gauff was given a battle in the first set by fellow American Caroline Dolehide but came through 7-6 (2) 6-2.

Caroline Garcia is out, though, the 16th seed, who beat Naomi Osaka in round one, upset by Pole Magdalena Frech.


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