16-year-old prodigy Mirra ANDREEVA ousted on return to action by American ace

On the first day of action at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, it wasn’t to be for 16-year-old prodigy, Mirra Andreeva who was well beaten by another player who has also made strides in the past 12 months in rising American, Peyton Stearns.

One of the top clashes of the first round, it took place on Day One with Stearns who has hardly won a first round match since reaching the Last 16 at the US Open including last week in Doha against Elise Mertens sealed it 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 in an emphatic three set success. It could yet be a good week for the 22-year-old who will next face Marketa Vondrousova who has not been in form since winning Wimbledon with injuries mainly blighting her like her compatriots, Karolina Muchova and Barbora Krejcikova both not in Dubai this week.

Stearns started with a sign of things to come in a day to forget for Andreeva. She broke twice in her opponent’s first three service games. Andreeva recovered one of the breaks, but Stearns kept the foot on the accelerator pedal and won the first set 6-2. In the second set, Andreeva looked to hit back and did so with almost a mirror image. She broke twice in the first three service games and eventually won the second 6-2 and sent the match into a decider.

But Andreeva was shocking to begin set three, she lost the first six points and the first five games and only claimed one game in a display that was all over the place as Stearns didn’t face a single break point in sealing the win. Others through already on day one include Magdalena Frech who dumped out Ekaterina Alexandrova, Donna Vekic, Emma Navarro, Anna Kalinskaya, Jasmine Paolini and Sloane Stephens. The latter few all showing form in recent months.

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