Brisbane, Jan 3 (IANS) Mirra Andreeva has booked her ticket into the semifinals of the Brisbane International after defeating her idol Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-4, 7-6 on Friday. The 17-year-old Russian is now 2-0 against former World No.2 Jabeur.
On the comeback from a season of form and injury struggles, the 30-year-old Jabeur impressed as she reeled off three successive wins for the first time since Roland Garros last year before Andreeva had her measure for the second time in as many meetings on Australian soil.
Last year, Andreeva toppled the then-No. 6 Tunisian in the second round of the Australian Open. The Russian awaits World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka or Czech’s Marie Bouzkova for a place in Sunday’s final.
Andreeva has looked sharp in her first three outings in Brisbane and went into the quarterfinals with straight-set wins over Anna Blinkova and Linda Noskova. Her 6-3, 6-0 win over Noskova avenged a tough loss from 12 months ago, when Noskova beat her 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Earlier, local wildcard Kimberly Birrell’s impressive run came to end in the quarterfinals after suffering a 6-4, 1-6, 5-7 loss to Anhelina Kalinina, who is bidding for her third WTA final.
Birrell, competing at her home base, had defeated only two top-50 opponents from 2021 to 2024 but had notched two wins this week against such players – World No.8 Emma Navarro and World No.35 Anastasia Potapova.
For two hours and 40 minutes, she showed grit and courage before she fell narrowly shy against the steely Ukrainian, a player who was ranked in the top 25 only 18 months ago.
Winless in Australia last season, the 27-year-old Kalinina was one point from defeat at 4-5 in the deciding set but rebounded to snatch the final three games for her sixth WTA semifinal and only her second on hard court.
Birrell was up to a career-high mark of World No.99 in the live rankings, while Kalinina moved on to a last-four clash with 21-year-old qualifier Polina Kudermetova, a 7-6(5) 6-3 winner over American Ashlyn Krueger.
–IANS
bc/ab
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
