You'll be third: Mirra Andreeva has moved closer to the top 3 of the WTA rankings

Mirra Andreeva and Ekaterina Alexandrova staged a vivid battle with two tie-breaks in the quarterfinals of the thousandth anniversary in Beijing. The victory went to the younger Russian, who is approaching the top 3 of the WTA rankings. To do this, she needs to beat the 34th racket of the world Nikola Bartunkova. Also in the Chinese capital, Andreeva guaranteed herself participation in the Final WTA tournament.

An even set

Before the meeting in Beijing, the Russians played against each other twice. Both times Myrrh had high seeding numbers when Catherine was not among the seeded ones. But a more experienced tennis player did not let the first racket of the country cling to victory in these matches. Last season, Alexandrova was stronger at the clay tournament in Stuttgart. (6:3, 6:2), and this year — on the grass in Bad Homburg (6:3, 6:4).

"I've never beaten her before," Mirra said before the quarterfinals in Beijing. — Together with Conchita (Martinez, Andreeva's coach. I'll try to figure out how to play against her, what to change, try something new that I can use in the match. I really want to beat her for the first time.

Despite the positive statistics, Ekaterina did not feel like a favorite. Moreover, it was their first meeting on the hard drive. The bookmakers also favored Mirra. This season is turning out to be a failure for Ekaterina. She flew from the top 10 of the world ranking to the 28th place, having lost the status of the second racket of Russia. Myrrh is approaching the top three in the world. At the thousandth anniversary in Beijing, she solved an important task: by beating Daria Snigur in the fourth round, she secured participation in the Final WTA tournament for the first time. Her victory over Alexandrova allowed her to rise from fifth to fourth place in the women's singles ranking.

And Mirra went into the fight with a rematch mindset, demonstrating an outstanding defensive game. The opponent had to send balls deep to break through this defense, but it was not always possible to get into the court. As a result, Andreeva could have left with two breaks for the first mini-break, but Ekaterina still saved one of her games.

China Court: six Russians to play at the Masters in Shanghai

Simakin will make his ATP main draw debut, while Medvedev, Rublev and Khachanov will compete for the title.

The match was dictated by the first racket of Russia until the fourth game and the score was 30:0. Then Alexandrova began to find winning shots with a cross and win back the gap. The first attempt at a break failed — Andreeva survived, having won back two break points. However, after a game, Ekaterina reached the break points again and this time she was able to crush her opponent.

Mirra began to fuss, hurry, force punches, and make mistakes. The set swung in favor of Alexandrova. At the beginning of the eighth game, the statistics of the last draws were shown on the broadcast screen — 9:1 in favor of the 28th racket of the world. She continued to dominate, reaching a triple break point, which Andreeva helped to realize with a double mistake.

But Ekaterina couldn't apply for a set, giving her game to zero. This is a great credit to Mirra, who showed a great and uncomfortable technique, but the decisive point was brought by a double mistake by her opponent. The winner of the set was determined in a tie-break, where the Russians were level, and Alexandrova made a key and blunt mistake with the score 4:3, sending a slow and comfortably flying ball into the net.

One win to top 3

The defeat in the tie-break hurt Ekaterina's mood. At the beginning of the second set, she often threw up her hands in exasperation, saying something about her box, where her father was sitting. Mirra, on the other hand, was on the rise, making an early break. However, when she felt that the match was heading towards her victory, she seemed to relax. She allowed her opponent to win back from the score of 40:0 and reach a break point, but Ekaterina failed to win back the break.

At 5-3, Andreeva went out to serve for the match, but met strong resistance. Alexandrova, having thrown out all her emotions at the beginning of the game, was extremely concentrated and persistent in her strokes. Mirra not only couldn't hold her serve, but also gave up four games in a row to her opponent, who caught her courage. However, Ekaterina again did not take advantage of her second chance to apply for a set in this meeting.

Thus, we had to sort things out again in a tie-break. On it, the Russians held the advantage of their serve until the score was 3:3, and then one mistake by Alexandrova when hitting from the summer decided the fate of the match.

— I am very glad that we finished this match, because I knew that if it came to the third set, it would be very difficult for both of us. Ekaterina played incredibly well. Even when I had the advantage in the second set, leading 5-2, I felt that she was still putting pressure on me. It seemed to me that she was playing better, but somehow I didn't use my chances, I could have played more aggressively. But what a match it was! I'm very happy with how everything turned out," Andreeva said in an interview on the court.

Not in the court, but in the eye: Medvedev ended his speech in Beijing with disqualification

Daniil's nerves broke down in the match with Novak Djokovic — as a result, a spectator in the stands suffered

Next, Mirra will have a semi-final with Czech Nikola Bartunkova. They played each other once: at the US Open this season, the Russian was stronger in two sets.

—Mirra's performance at the tournament was very good, where many of the top players lost in the early stages,— Olympic champion Elena Vesnina told Izvestia. — Andreeva keeps her level. With Katya Alexandrova, it turned out to be an equal match, two tie-breaks — the game could have turned out any way. A very good and important victory. Mirra showed character and showed stability. She has a good chance of winning the tournament in Beijing. Mirra is the youngest semi—finalist of the "thousandth" in Beijing since 2007? She's the youngest everywhere (laughs). Mirra has been making herself known for a long time.

Andreeva is currently ranked fifth, which is her personal best. According to the results of the tournament, she can become the fourth racket of the world if she loses in the next match, and the third racket of the world if she wins it.