Mirra Andreeva has navigated her way through to the US Open second round after demolishing Alycia Parks.
The American stood no chance against her inspired Russian opponent, with Andreeva winning by a comprehensive scoreline of 6-0 6-1.
Andreeva, aged only 18 years, is one of the brightest young stars on the WTA Tour alongside Victoria Mboko and Maya Joint, and she demonstrated her high-quality, accurate game during her first round match at Flushing Meadows.
This victory is all the more impressive considering she has not played a hard-court match since Wimbledon.
Following her first-round victory in New York, Andreeva pinpointed something she wants to achieve for the first time at the US Open.
Mirra Andreeva wants to break her second round ‘curse’ at the US Open
After defeating Parks, Andreeva was asked about her poor record at the US Open compared to the other Grand Slams.
The Russian has made the semi-finals of the French Open, quarter-finals of Wimbledon, and the Australian Open fourth round.
During Andreeva’s post-match press conference, one reporter asked: “Is there anything unique about playing here that’s different to the other three? Or is that just a matter of time because you’re so young?”
Andreeva replied: “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it, that if I win this match, I really just should do 200 per cent of what I can to win the second round match because two times I played here I lost in the second round.
“In 2023, okay, you can give me some credit. I was 16 and I lost to Coco, and she ended up winning the tournament. So okay, it’s fine.
“But last year I lost to [Ashlyn] Krueger, and she was playing great. It was a really great match from her and I was super nervous as well, coming into that match.
“But I’m just hoping that this time, this year, it’s going to be a little bit different and I’m going to do everything I can to kind of break that curse and move on… to just stay here a little bit longer and move further into the tournament.”
Mirra Andreeva enters conversation with Iga Swiatek
Andreeva’s demolition of Alycia Parks demonstrated just how much potential the 18-year-old possesses.
This was made more obvious after the match by statistician OptaAce.
As per OptaAce, Mirra Andreeva has become the youngest player to claim a 6-0 set in the US Open Ladies Singles since Iga Swiatek in 2019.
Swiatek achieved the feat while aged 18 years and 117 days. In comparison, Andreeva accomplished this same feat aged 18 years and 87 days.
Andreeva faces compatriot Anastasia Potapova in the US Open second round. The pair have played each other twice, with each winning one match.
In 2022, Potapova won their first match in Monastir, Tunisia. In 2023, Andreeva claimed revenge, defeating Potapova at Wimbledon.
