RUSSIAN teenager Mirra Andreeva has backed up her breakthrough WTA 1000 Madrid Open performance last year with another fourth round appearance in 2024. The talented 16-year-old said after her first round win over American Taylor Townsend that the tournament was her “place of power” and that power ramped up with a third round straight sets victory over Czech seventh seed Marketa Vondrousova.

Andreeva defeated Vondrousova 7-5 6-1 and only seems to be getting stronger at the tournament, having to come from a set down against both Townsend and fellow rising star Linda Noskova to reach the third round.

“I feel like Madrid is my place of power,” Andreeva said after the first round win. “I watched some highlights of my matches last year and I tried to see and understand what I did good, why I had this small success. 

“I didn’t see anything, honestly, nothing special. Last year, I came here hoping that I will win some matches with some kind of miracle. I was hoping that maybe my opponents will make the match turn my way. 

“But now I know to win the match I have to do everything by myself, and this match today also proved it.”

Andreeva might be on the verge of turning 17, but it did not stop the talented Russian from grabbing one last record before she aged up, becoming just the second player this century to defeat a Top 10 opponent before turning 17.

Though her third round win seemed straight forward, Andreeva had to dig deep in the first set. She lead 4-1 after breaking Vondrousova three times, only for the Grand Slam champion to win the next four games and go ahead at 5-4. From that point on, the Russian teenager won nine of the next 10 games to wrap up the match in one hour and 15 minutes.

Andreeva won 68 per cent of her first serve points off a 76 per cent clip, while breaking seven times to three during the match. Despite being pushed in the first set, Andreeva won 25 of 34 points in the second set, only losing two points off her serve in a dominant display.

Andreeva turns 17 today, and will face Italian Jasmine Paolini for the chance to reach the quarter finals. Ranked 43rd heading into the tournament, Andreeva has now defended her points from 2023 – which catapulted her to charge inside the Top 50 – and a victory over Paolini will see the Russian return to the Top 40.

If she can make the Madrid final, she will enter the Top 30 for the first time. However with Grand Slam champions Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, as well as the red-hot Danielle Collins in her half, Andreeva will need to be at her very best to achieve the feat.

In other results, Collins notched up her 15th straight WTA Tour win with a victory over Romanian qualifier Jaqueline Cristian, while Daria Kasatkina knocked off Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the all-Russian battle. Czech duo Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva are on a crash course to face off in the quarter finals after their respective victories, while Paolini knocked off Caroline Garcia and surprise packet Sara Bejlek reached the fourth round as a qualifier, easily accounting for Ashlyn Krueger 6-3 6-1.