Seeking to win her second major of the year, world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka takes on 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals of the French Open on Wednesday.
While Sabalenka is bidding to reach a ninth Grand Slam semi-final, Andreeva is hoping to pull off an upset and advance to the last four of a major for the very first time.
Match preview
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Five months on from retaining the Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka boosted her French Open title hopes and send an ominous warning to her rivals after thundering past American fourth-round debutante Emma Navarro in straight sets on Monday.
The Belarusian lost to Navarro at Indian Wells earlier this season, but she played with controlled aggression to secure a dominant 6-2 6-3 win over the 22nd seed this time around to advance to her seventh straight major quarter-final.
Sabalenka has hit more winners than any other female player heading into the last eight of this year's tournament, winning 30% of her points (118 out of 400) with outright winners, including 63 on the forehand.
The 26-year-old has also added touch to her game this year, as she has already hit 15 drop shot winners across her four matches at Roland Garros, including three in her most recent victory over Navarro.
Sabalenka is sure to be eyeing up a potential semi-final showdown with rival and good friend Elena Rybakina, and will be confident of success on Wednesday having previously beaten her upcoming opponent Mirra Andreeva on two occasions.
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Twelve months on from making her Grand Slam debut at the French Open, losing in the third round to Coco Gauff, Andreeva continues to establish herself as one of the most promising female players in tennis after securing a straight sets win over Varvara Gracheva in the fourth round on Monday.
After battling to a 7-5 victory in the first set, the teenager barely put a foot wrong in the second and powered to a 6-2 success to become the second-youngest woman in the 21st century to reach the quarter‑finals at Roland Garros.
Andreeva has not dropped a set outside of her stunning second-round triumph over two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka, and she has found great success with coach Conchita Martinez, with whom she also made her first WTA 1000 quarter-final in Madrid.
Sabalenka was the woman who ended Andreeva's winning run in the Spanish capital, though, and the Russian starlet has admitted that her Belarusian counterpart is on "another level" ahead of Wednesday's contest.
Tournament so far
Mirra Andreeva:
First round: vs. Emina Bektas 6-2 6-3
Second round: vs. Victoria Azarenka 6-3 3-6 7-5
Third round: vs. Peyton Stearns 6-2 6-1
Round of 16: vs. Varvara Gracheva 7-5 6-2
Aryna Sabalenka:
First round: vs. Erika Andreeva 6-1 6-2
Second round: vs. Moyuka Uchijima 6-2 6-2
Third round: vs. Paula Badosa 7-5 6-1
Round of 16: vs. Emma Navarro 6-2 6-3
Head To Head
Madrid Open (2023) – Round of 16: Sabalenka wins 6-3 6-1
Madrid Open (2024) – Quarter-finals: Sabalenka wins 6-1 6-4
Andreeva and Sabalenka will clash rackets for just the third time in all tournaments on Wednesday and for the first time in a Grand Slam, having previously faced off at the Madrid Open in consecutive years.
Sabalenka comfortably prevailed in both meetings, beating Andreeva in straight sets en route Madrid Open glory in 2023, before ending the teenager's impressive winning streak again by claiming a similarly dominant victory at the quarter-final stage at the beginning of May.
We say: Sabalenka to win in two sets
Although Andreeva deserves plenty of plaudits for her performances at this year's tournament, even she has admitted that Wednesday's contest will be a challenging one against Sabalenka, who last failed to reach a major semi-finals at the 2022 French Open.
Sabalenka boasts a brilliant 8-0 record in Grand Slam quarter-finals and she should have few problems powering past her teenage counterpart en route to another last-four tie.
