Trailing 4-1 in the first set, Mirra Andreeva looked like the player in trouble on Wednesday. Barely an hour later the Russian teenager had swept every remaining game, eleven in all, and beaten Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 in the California desert to claim a semi-final spot at the WTA Finals.
The 19-year-old Russian admitted the early break, sealed by her own double fault, had made her furious. Rather than let it unsettle her, she said she channelled the frustration into her serve. The numbers back that up. Down 15-30 while closing out the opener, she answered with three consecutive aces, and after the changeover Sabalenka won a mere two points on her serve.
The Belarusian, ranked second in the world, unravelled at speed. She finished with 23 unforced errors and not one ace, and after leading by a double break she collected just ten more points. Asked to explain the collapse, she offered little more than praise for her opponent: “Bravo.”
Andreeva graded her own display “a good eight”, saying a perfect score needs the best match of a career. The record books were kinder. Her opening win over Elina Svitolina had finished with the very same scoreline, so no player before her had ever opened this tournament with two bagel sets in a row. She is also its youngest semi-finalist since Caroline Wozniacki reached that stage in 2009. She tops Group 2 with a perfect record.
Sabalenka still has a route through: she meets Svitolina on Friday, and whoever wins joins Andreeva in the last four. Svitolina stayed in contention by recovering from a set down and a medical timeout for a hip problem to beat Karolina Muchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Linda Noskova has already qualified from the other group.
