Paris, May 31 (IANS) Rising teenager Mirra Andreeva clinched a spot in the Roland Garros third round for the second straight year after beating former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in a late-night stunner.
The 17-year-old Andreeva successfully completed the third-round lineup with a 2-hour and 31-minute victory over No.19 seed Azarenka. The match ended just after 1 am local time in Paris (4:30 am IST).
Andreeva, last season’s WTA Newcomer of the Year, has already collected five Top 25 wins this season, including in half of her last six matches — she also beat Marketa Vondrousova and Jasmine Paolini in Madrid a month ago, WTA reports.
World No.38 Andreeva will look to make the Round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the third time in her young career when she takes on another surging player, Peyton Stearns of the United States,
Stearns registered and upset win over No.10 seed Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 6-2 to book a third-round spot at Roland Garros for the second consecutive year.
Andreeva and Stearns have faced off once before, with Stearns winning 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 in the first round of WTA 1000 Dubai in February.
–IANS
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