Paris, June 2 (IANS) The 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva put on a near-perfect performance to reach the semifinals of the French Open for the second time in her career, defeating Romania’s Sorana Cirstea convincingly 6-0, 6-3 in 56 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier at Stade Roland Garros on Tuesday.
Two years on from her maiden Grand Slam semifinal appearance at Roland Garros, the teenager eased her way into the final four, further establishing her presence on the WTA tour.
Under the closed roof of Philippe Chatrier, Andreeva dictated play from the outset. The Russian conceded just nine points throughout the first six games and offered the 36-year-old Cirstea not one game point, let alone a break point opportunity, as she raced through the first set in just 22 minutes.
The match-up was the biggest age disparity at a women’s Grand Slam singles quarter-final since Martina Navratilova faced Jennifer Capriati at Wimbledon in 1991, but the youthful exuberance and pinpoint precision of Andreeva was ultimately too much to overcome.
Cirstea, in her second Grand Slam quarterfinal, eventually opened her account on the board at the beginning of the second set and then stayed level with Andreeva in the first six games as both players traded service holds to level the set at three-all. Andreeva immediately reasserted her authority in the contest, winning the next three games without dropping a point and sealing the 6-0, 6-3 triumph.
In statistics, Andreeva fired 18 winners to 20 Cirstea errors while making just six unforced errors of her own. Cirstea, on the other hand, only managed 4 winners to 17 errors, with the Russian converting every single one of the six break points she created.
The result improves Andreeva’s career head-to-head record against Cirstea to 2-0 and puts her in the lead on the WTA Tour for the number of matches won this season, including team events, to 34. Andreeva’s 20th clay court victory of the year means she has the most wins on the surface on the WTA tour in 2026.
Andreeva faces the winner of the seventh seed, Elina Svitolina, and the fifteenth seed, Marta Kostyuk, in her next match. She holds a 1-1 career record against Svitolina but lost their first meeting this season; she has yet to overcome Kostyuk, having lost to the Ukrainian on two occasions in 2026.
–IANS
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