Mirra Andreeva struggled early on in her Australian Open first-round before emphatically storming back to beat world No. 72 Donna Vekic 4-6 6-3 6-0.
The Russian, who won Adelaide last week, led 3-1 at the start of the match and the early indication was that she wouldn't have much problems in her Melbourne opener. But then, Vekic stunningly came back with breaks to take the first set.
After suffering a first-set collapse, Andreeva started to serve much better as she didn't allow Vekic a single break point in the second set. Also, the No. 7 seed claimed the lone break of the second set in the sixth game.
The rest of the match was an absolute one-sided affair as the new three-time WTA champion bageled the 2024 Paris Olympics silver medalist to reach round two.
During the match, Andreeva fired 28 winners and had 22 unforced errors, while Vekic had 22 winners and sprayed 42 unforced errors.
Who is Andreeva's rival in the Australian Open second round?
For a place in the Australian Open third round, the No. 7 seed will play against former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari. The Russian has no previous meetings against Sakkari.
Today, Andreeva showed some great mental strength to beat Vekic. A few days earlier in her Australian Open pre-tournament press conference, the 18-year-old claimed that she worked a lot on improving mentally during the offseason.
"So yeah, I feel like we are two different people if we compare me and me now and me in October. But I just hope that I will be able to keep this kind of mindset for as long as I can because now I feel like, with the win especially, I feel more and more confident in what I do on the court. Obviously, when you feel confident you go for your shots more, you are more brave on the court. So I just hope that I’ll be able to stay in this mindset for a long period of time," Andreeva said.
