WHILE her younger sister often captures the headlines, it was Russian Erika Andreeva who stole the headlines overnight with a come-from-behind victory over American Danielle Collins. The Russian 20-year-old is still building into her career, and while the 89th ranked Andreeva is no slouch, she is able to go about her business under the radar thanks to teenage sister Mirra, who is on the verge of cracking the Top 20.

Last night Erika was the one producing some jaw-dropping tennis, ousting Collins in a fantastic comeback victory in Monterrey to reach the quarter finals of the WTA 500 event. Having only played once before – at Indian Wells earlier this year – Andreeva was keen to avenge her heartbreaking 7-6 7-6 loss.

On another Central American hardcourt but across the border, Andreeva worked her way back from the brink, weathering 10 aces off Collins’ racquet to tame the world number 11, affectionally known as ‘Danimal’ for her fierce matchplay.

Under the pressure of a Center Court appearance, Andreeva looked out of her depth early, winning just one game – and that was a break, while only winning a shocking five of 19 points on her own serve. It looked like Collins was going to storm to an easy win.

However Andreeva, a decade her opponent’s junior, found a way to get back into the contest. She served three aces to Collins’ four in the second set and went from hardly winning a point on serve, to saluting on 14 of 15 off her first serve, and still collecting 54 per cent of points off her second serve. She also did not face a break point.

While still having limited opportunities to crack into Collins’ serve, she broke from her only opportunity, and that was all she needed to level the match. Continuing that form into the deciding set, Andreeva won 10 of 12 first serve points, making it 24 of 27 over the last two sets, and yet again did not face a break point. However on this occasion, she had three break point opportunities and took two, closing out the match 1-6 6-3 6-3 in an hour and 52 minutes.

“Every time I play this [level] of opponent I try not to think about [their ranking], because it puts more pressure on me,” Andreeva said post-match. “Can I do it? And, I have to take all my opportunities I get. But this time I was like, OK, I just hit the yellow ball and I don’t care who I play.”

The win marked Andreeva’s first Top 20 victory, and put Collins on the back foot after a forgettable first set. She hit 12 winners to 10 across the last two sets, while Collins also produced a massive 27 unforced errors in that time.

“Honestly, the first set just went so fast,” said Andreeva. “She did also amazing hitting. I pushed myself to be more aggressive, and pushed more on the first shots to make her less comfortable.”