Mirra Andreeva has become the youngest woman to win a tour-level title since Coco Gauff in 2021 defeating Elina Avanesyan who had to retire in the third set of their final at the Iasi Open 5-7, 7-5, 4-0.
Andreeva will face a short turnaround especially given that she will play in the Olympic Games in Paris over the weekend. She faces Magda Linette in the first round of singles likely on Sunday and will also play women’s and mixed doubles. She plays alongside Diana Shnaider and Daniil Medvedev in those.
But after an early exit from Wimbledon, she took a gamble to go over and play in Romania to get used to clay again entering the tournament as top seed and favourite despite having never won a title. She bounced through her first few rounds with utter ease. Defeating Olga Danilovic was her biggest test last time out saving match points and prevailing in three sets.
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Albeit her final against Avanesyan who has also been a rising star of the last season was far from ideal. She was supposed to start at 5pm but it had to be postponed due to 9:15 because of rain and likely when she would’ve been expecting to head to Paris after the initial mooted time.
But she started well going up an early break only to relinquish it and hand the initiative to Avanesyan. She did so twice as she went down 5-6 in the opening set. She didn’t escape into a tie-break as Avanesyan snuck through 7-5 to start on a positive note.
The second set saw Andreeva again lead by a break and twice she lost that one-break advantage. She was close to losing at 5-4 down but Avanesyan ran into trouble. Andreeva won nine points in a row and from there it swung her way. She won four games in a row in the decider 4-0 before Avanesyan decided to retire as she was struggling with a knee issue. This meant that Andreeva won the match and at 17 becomes the latest first time winner on the tour. A surprise but also not given that she has been at the forefront of WTA Tennis for about a year but also hasn’t played many tournaments outside of her Grand Slam runs.
Mirra Andreeva wins her first ever WTA title as Elina Avanesyan retires in the 3rd set in Iasi. ❤️🩹 Mirra is the youngest woman to win a tour-level title since Coco Gauff in 2021. 17 years old. Her story keeps getting brighter & better. Proud day. ❤️