“She’s very tough,” Leylah Fernandez credits Mirra Andreeva for a high quality match after a close battle between the two in Hong Kong

Fernandez will now play the quarter-finals in Hong Kong Open.

“She’s very tough,” Leylah Fernandez credits Mirra Andreeva for a high quality match after a close battle between the two in Hong Kong

Mirra Andreeva, Leylah Fernandez(Images via: The Scottish Sun/The Guardian)

In her latest match, Canadian tennis player and the 2021 US Open Singles finalist, Leylah Fernandez ousted World No.50 in an exciting showdown. Right after the match, however, the 21-year-old showered the young teenager, Mirra Andreeva with praises.

Leylah Fernandez beat Russian prodigy, Mirra Andreeva in their Round of 16 match today at the Hong Kong Open. Though the 16-year-old claimed victory in the first set with ease, scoring a 6-3 win over the Canadian. In a match that lasted almost 2 hours, Fernandez beat Andreeva, scoring 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 over three matches.

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“Mirra is an amazing player. She’s very tough to play against,” the Canadian said in an interview following her latest match win. Talking about her match in particular, she said, “I’m just happy with the way I fought & the way I found solutions. I think it’s thanks to the encouragement from the crowd that helped me get through.”

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Leylah Fernandez advanced to the Round of 16 with a walkover win in Hong Kong after top seed Victoria Azarenka retired from the round mid-match due to an injury. The 21-year-old Canadian still, managed to shock the Russian player with her comeback in the second set of the match today. The Canadian will be facing Czech Republic’s Linda Fruhvirtova in her quarter-final round match, which is scheduled to be held tomorrow.

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Mirra Andreeva has reached her career-high ranking of World No.50

Mirra Andreeva has finally broken into the WTA’s Top 50 rankings at the young age of just 16 years old, jumping over 240 places from the start of this season. The Russian is currently not just the youngest player in the Top 50 but the youngest overall in the Top 150 as well.

Mirra Andreeva
Mirra Andreeva(Image via: Tennis.com)

Andreeva has had a great season so far in 2023, considering her young age. She reached the round-of-16 of the Madrid Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka, the third round of the Wimbledon Open, where she lost to Coco Gauff, and the round-of-16 of the US Open. However, now that the youngster has a top 50 ranking, fans across the globe will stop seeing her as ‘just a 16-year-old’ and thus she will have to keep on giving her best and getting better results in tournaments. 

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