Tennis
Andreeva frayed all her nerves at the start of the Australian Open. And in the end I just humiliated my opponent
Mirra’s first match in Melbourne left mixed feelings.
Mirra Andreeva approached the Australian Open in excellent shape and in a positive mood. A few days before the start of the tournament, the 18-year-old Russian woman won the WTA 500 competition in Adelaide, and already in Melbourne she began her journey with a strong-willed victory.
The first match of the tournament turned out to be difficult for Andreeva, but perhaps that’s even good. The main thing is that the best tennis player in Russia continues to fight for the title.
A confident start to the year and a quick start to getting into shape
The beginning of 2026 is shaping up to be the most productive for Mirra Andreeva. In Adelaide, she won the fourth title in her career, confidently defeating Victoria Mboko in the final – 6:3, 6:1. This success was the Russian’s first of the season and immediately set the tone for her performances.
The trophy at the WTA 500 tournament confirmed Andreeva’s status as one of the most consistent tennis players on the tour right now. The seventh racket in the world feels confident on hard court, builds plays competently and reads her opponents well. It is important that Mirra won all her matches confidently, without spending much effort.
How the match with Donna Vekic turned out
In the first round of the Australian Open, Andreeva faced the experienced Croatian Donna Vekic, ranked 72nd in the rankings. The first set was left to the Croatian. Andreeva led early with a break – 3:1, but was unable to develop her advantage. Vekic quickly equalized the score, and then in the end made the decisive break and took the game in 53 minutes – 6:4. The game went smoothly, with long games and frequent “straight” plays, but the key plays worked out better for the opponent.
In the second set the situation changed. In the sixth game, Andreeva finally caught Vekic making mistakes, converted a break point and led 4:2. This advantage was enough: the Russian confidently served for the set and closed the game – 6:3 in just 32 minutes.
Before the decisive set there was a short pause, which Andreeva used as efficiently as possible. After a short conversation with the coaching staff, she came out onto the court collected and aggressive. In the third game, the Russian made three breaks in a row, completely controlled the rallies and did not give up a single game to her opponent – 6:0.
“I think today I would like to thank myself again for everything.” I did absolutely everything myself. I don’t know what my team was doing, sitting in the corner and doing nothing. To be honest, I’m very pleased with how I was able to come back into this match, how I didn’t lose my concentration and continued to take shots. Okay, maybe Conchita gave me advice a couple of times here and there… But in general, again I did everything myself,” Andreeva said in an interview on the court after the match.
This manner of interviewing on the court is already becoming Mirra’s trademark. After winning the title in Adelaide, she also took full credit for herself, making fun of Conchita Martinez and other members of the team. It turns out that after victories, one of the best tennis players on the planet publicly mocks the team that helps her achieve success. Perhaps this has never happened before in world tennis.
In the second round, Mirra Andreeva will meet with the 53rd racket of the world, Maria Sakkari from Greece. And this is the case when the position in the ranking should not be misleading. Several years ago, Sakkari reached third place in the rankings, played twice in the semi-finals of Grand Slam tournaments, and won two titles. Any relaxation and even a short decline can knock Andreeva out of the tournament, so the Russian woman must be as collected as possible.
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.
Tennis
Alexandra Oleynikova – Madison Keys. Prediction and announcement for the Australian Open match
They will meet in the first round of the Australian Open on January 20. Alexandra Oleynikova (WTA 90) and Madison Keys (WTA 9).
The start of the event is scheduled for 02:30 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua together with a betting partner bet announcing the upcoming fight!
Alexandra Oleynikova
The upcoming match is extremely important for the career of the Ukrainian football player; It will make its debut in the main draw of the Grand Slam tournaments. This success was due to a strong season in which the Ukrainian won three WTA 125 and four ITF tournaments. It is worth noting that all successes were on the field.
Oleynikova is the current winner of the tournament and will start against an overall strong opponent. The Ukrainian did not play in any other tournaments before making his debut at the Australian Open, so his current form is difficult to determine.
Madison Keys
The American athlete needs no introduction; He is ranked in the top 10 and is also the current winner of the Australian Open. Last season, Keys managed to win the first major title of his career and before that he won the title in Adelaide. Then there were still good performances, but such successes were not achieved.
Madison started this season with a tournament in Brisbane, where he beat compatriot Kessler 6:4, 6:3 and then neutral Schneider 6:7, 7:6, 7:6. In the quarter-finals, the American lost to the world’s first racket, Aryna Sabalenka, 3:6, 3:6. There was also a tournament in Adelaide where she failed to defend the title, Keys beating Czech Valentova 6:4, 6:1 and then losing to future finalist Victoria Mboko 4:6, 6:4, 2:6.
To guess
Of course, the tennis players have never met before and Keys is seen as the big favorite in the upcoming match. Judging by the bookmakers’ odds, it all comes down to the question of how much the Ukrainian will lose.
Oleynikova will have to play against a real monster of modern tennis, it is important not to get psychologically exhausted. Although everyone expects a crushing victory for the American, I bet on Alexandra’s success with a match handicap of +7.5 to 1.75, it will be difficult to fight for victory, but it is realistic to impose the fight.
Alexander Oleynikova01/20/2026 –
02:30
Madison Keys 1.75 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024 Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
January 20 Ukrainian tennis player Angelina Kalinina (WTA 179) will begin competing in the 2026 Australian Open main draws.
The Ukrainian player will play against the Chinese representative in the first round Wang Xinyu (WTA46). The match will start with the second start on Court No. 7 after Lumsden / Tang Qianhui – Sarah Errani / Jasmine Paolini. The estimated start time of the match is 03:30 Kyiv time.
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This will be the first head-to-head meeting between the rivals.
The winner of the match will face Rebekka Shramkova or Alena Ostapenko in the second round.
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Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
They will face each other in the first round of the Australian Open on January 20 Angelina Kalinina (WTA 178) – Wang Xinyu (WTA 43).
The match is scheduled to start at 03.30 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua together with a betting partner bet announcing the upcoming fight!
Angelina Kalinina
The Ukrainian athlete was out of the top 100 last season and will be out of action for six months. In December, Kalinina managed to take the cup in Limoges – there was a good squad at the WTA 125 tournament.
The athlete tried to play in Adelaide, but immediately lost to Hungarian Bondar in qualifying with scores of 4:6, 6:7. The first big game of the season also had to start with the qualifying matches; Here they managed to beat Garland from Taiwan 7:5, 6:2, Koevermans from the Netherlands 7:6, 6:0 and in the final they beat Chwalinska from Poland 5:7, 6:2, 6:1.
A good game in qualifying clearly boosted Kalinina’s confidence; The Ukrainian athlete reached the third round at the Australian Open the most, and he should try to break his personal record.
Wang Xinyu
The Chinese athlete must be familiar to Ukrainian tennis fans because it was Wang who recently played in the final of the tournament in Auckland, where she lost to Elina Svitolina 3:6, 6:7. Although he could not win the title, the tennis player can definitely be satisfied with his performance, because he beat rivals such as American McNally – 2:6, 6:3, 7:5, Mexican Sarazua – 7:5, 6:4, British Jones – 6:4, 4:3, and Francesca withdrew. In the semi-final, a tough victory was achieved against Eala from the Philippines, 5:7, 7:5, 6:4.
There was also a tournament in Hobart, where the Chinese woman started with a 6:2, 6:3 victory over Australian Gibson, followed by a 1:6, 5:7 defeat by Poland’s Linette. Wang never got past the second round at the Australian majors.
To guess
Statistics show that the athletes have never played each other, and on paper the Chinese woman is a slight favourite. There is a meeting of two powerful middle peasants, so we can expect an approximately equal struggle.
It is important for tennis players to play to their strengths. I think such a match could be extended, so I predict the total over 20.5 matches will be 1.74.
Angelina Kalinina01/20/2026 –
03:30
Wang Xinyu 1.74 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024 Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
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