Eighteen-year-old Russian tennis player Mirra Andreeva, the tournament’s top seed, defeated Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in a hard-fought three-set match on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz tournament in Austria.
The young Russian star delivered five aces and successfully converted five of her seven break point opportunities in the 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2 victory over the 36-year-old fifth-seeded Cirstea, who is playing her final season on the professional tour. Following her second-set loss, Andreeva dominated early in the deciding set by capturing the opening three games, ultimately securing her quarterfinal win.
Andreeva’s semifinal opponent will be Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who pulled off an impressive comeback victory against Latvia’s fourth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko. Ruse fired nine aces during her 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 upset win, while Ostapenko struggled with her serve, committing 11 double faults throughout the match.
The tournament’s other semifinal will feature Austria’s Anastasia Potapova against Croatia’s Donna Vekic. Potapova dominated her fellow Austrian Lilli Tagger with a 7-6 (7), 6-0 victory, while Vekic eliminated Czech player Karolina Pliskova in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4.
