Tennis
The drama of the new Sharapova at Wimbledon. Russian woman cynically finished off by the judge
16-year-old Mirra gave up a place in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. The American was helped by experience and a referee.
The main discovery of this season, Mirra Andreeva played the second match in less than a day. Given the impressive advancement of the Russian woman from the qualification to the 1/8 finals of Wimbledon, a small pause between meetings could have a negative impact on the freshness of the young tennis player.
In the fourth round, the Russians’ rival was the experienced Madison Keys, who won the prestigious grass tournament in England a week ago. However, only Mirra was on the court until the middle of the second set.
And then disaster struck. Andreeva herself gave the game, but the referee gave the decisive advantage to the American.
Anxious start
With each round, the Russians have more and more difficult tests. In the second round, the titled Czech Kreychikova was beaten, then Andreeva waited an extra day to meet with Potapova. At the same time, the meeting with Nastya began at 14:00 on Sunday (Moscow time), and already at 13:00 on Monday, Mirra entered the 1/8 final game against Keys. Considering that Andreeva had to qualify, the load that fell on her looks very serious.
Madison, in turn, had a whole day to recover, as she managed to finish the game against Marta Kostyuk on Saturday evening. If we talk about the current form, then the American could be the most difficult opponent for Andreeva, since it was Madison who won the last grass tournament before Wimbledon (Eastbourne). In the final, by the way, the best-rated tennis player from Russia, Daria Kasatkina, was outplayed.
At the same time, 16-year-old Mirra holds only the first adult tournament on grass and, in fact, played only six matches before meeting the Keys. Whether it is possible to associate the uncertain start of the match with this fact for Andreeva is a big question. However, it didn’t work at all to catch the first game on the serve of the American, and then Mirra lost hers. Cold shower for all fans.
However, in women’s tennis, the presence of a break rarely determines the fate of the game. Mirra made a return break and leveled the game very quickly. Moreover, with the score 3:3 on the serve of Keys, the young Russian woman earned two break points, one of which she managed to convert and come forward before her serve (4:3).
It became clear that the American felt out of her element. She simply was not ready for such a sharp turn of the game, so she began to make mistakes very often. Andreeva took her game back and was able to pin the Keys on her serve again. Several spectacular shots along the line at the decisive moment of the ninth game brought her a victory in the set (6:3).
Incredible American comeback
The 28-year-old US representative tried to take the lead from the first game of the second installment. She took Mirra’s serve well, attacked and was close to a break, but again the magic of the most accurate strikes along the line and tricky candles killed Keys’ hope for success.
Mirra literally demotivated Madison. Psychologically, the American looked less stable, gave away part of the draws due to her mistakes and, in general, looked far from being the favorite.
Andreeva made a break, took her serve again and took a 3-0 lead in the second set. Mirra did not slow down, tried to win the next game, but Madison still held the blow. Each draw on the pitch of the American turned into a protracted exchange of blows. And when it already seemed that Mirra would squeeze her opponent, Keys earned two break points and took Andreeva’s serve.
It seemed that Mirra was broken. But this momentary doubt was dispelled by the Russian woman, who was able to take her serve and lead 5:4. Andreeva could decide the fate on the pitch of the American, but Keys showed her teeth and confidently leveled the score.
As in yesterday’s match, the native of Krasnoyarsk reached the score 5:5 in the second set, and secured a tie-break in the next game. But Keys easily took her serve. At the decisive moment of the second set, Madison practically stopped making mistakes and equalized the score in batches.
Significant decision of the judge
Dealing with the excitement of being 1-0 up in sets and winning 4-1 in the second and then losing in a tie-break is very difficult. And if you’re only 16 years old, it’s almost impossible. After losing the set, Mirra threw her racket, for which she received a warning.
No matter how the Russian woman tried to find the confidence that was in her strikes throughout the half of the match, she could not oppose something to Keys. The first three games were for the American. In the fifth game, with the score 1:3, she even cried a little in a situation where she could not get an advantage on the serve of Keys.
The difference in the experience of rivals was clearly felt at this very moment. A set earlier, Madison started up and pulled out a dead match, and now in a similar situation, Andreeva showed with her whole appearance that she did not believe in victory. But even in such a psychological hole, Mirra did not let the American go far.
She took her pitch, had a break point on someone else’s. But Keys resisted and took the lead 5:2. In the pause between the seventh and eighth game, Mirra no longer concealed her emotions, burying herself in a towel and sighing bitterly. How difficult it is to deal with all this!
Naturally, Madison wanted to close the game on Mirra’s serve. Andreeva resisted, but still the American managed to drag her into the fight. When the score was over, our athlete lost the racket from her hands, she lost the rally and emotionally screamed out, reacting to the failure.
However, the judge considered that there should be a punishment for this action, and since the 16-year-old tennis player had already had one warning before, its repetition automatically meant a match point for Keys. Mirra went to the tower to protest the decision, but it was useless.
On the next draw, Keys closed out the match. Leaving the court, Andreeva did not shake hands and did not even look at the referee, who gave this dirty point to the American. The most severe defeat, which should not have happened at all.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.