MADRID
\nMirra Andreeva celebrated her 16th birthday on Saturday by setting up a Madrid Open showdown with world number two Aryba Sabalenka and admitted: \u201cI have nothing to lose\u201d.
\nThe Russian teenager, ranked a lowly 194, eased to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Magda Linette to reach the fourth round having already ousted 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and world number 14 Beatriz Haddad Maia earlier in the tournament.
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t expect to be here and playing Sabalenka in the round of 16,\u201d Andreeva told Tennis Channel.
\n\u201cI\u2019m not really surprised with my level, because I know the way I can play on the court … but of course, I didn\u2019t expect to be here and go this far.\u201d
\nAndreeva broke Polish player Linette, world number 19, for 2-0 in the first set, and although the 17th seed broke back, the Russian did it again for a 4-2 lead and served it out.
\nThe youngster broke again in the first game of the second set and converted her second match point to break Linette again and clinch victory.
\nAndreeva, a wildcard, became only the third 15-year-old to win a WTA 1000 main draw match when she beat Fernandez on Wednesday.
\nShe finished as runner-up at the junior Australian Open in January, while Sabalenka won the women\u2019s title for her breakthrough Grand Slam.
\n\u201cI have nothing to lose,\u201d said Andreeva as she looked ahead to facing the Belarusian.
\n\u201cI just have to go there and show the best tennis I can. There is no pressure at all for me. There is some pressure on her, I think, because she\u2019s going to play a 16-year-old girl.\u201d
\nSabalenka beat resilient wildcard Camila Osorio 6-4, 7-5.
\nWorld number six Coco Gauff suffered a surprise third round defeat at the hands of Paula Badosa, losing 6-3, 6-0.
\nThe 19-year-old American, who was runner-up at the French Open last year, broke Badosa in the first game, but the Spaniard battled back immediately to get back on serve, before breaking Gauff again for a 3-2 lead.
\nGauff\u2019s forehand betrayed her as Badosa broke to love to win the first set 6-3.
\nThe second was a rout with Badosa winning 75 percent of points.
\n\u201cI think I served very well, I was playing very aggressively from the baseline, tactically I think I played perfectly and I\u2019m very happy to beat a player like Coco,\u201d said Badosa.
\n\u201cI\u2019m working very hard and it\u2019s moments like these which make it worth it.\u201d Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2019 Madrid runner-up, cracked 35 winners to defeat former world number three Dominic Thiem 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7\/5).
\nThiem, now ranked 93 in the world after a lengthy battle with a wrist injury, battled gamely but succumbed on the Greek\u2019s fourth match point.
\nIn a remarkable serving performance, fifth-ranked Tsitsipas hit 39 straight first serves from late in the opening set to early in the third.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s fantastic, 39 is a lot,\u201d Tsitsipas said. \u201cThat\u2019s a positive mark for me. I think it\u2019s just pure relaxation and focus.\u201d
\nWorld number three Daniil Medvedev saw off Italy\u2019s Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-3 to also reach the third round.
\nVavassori, ranked 164, battled his way past Andy Murray in the first round but could not oust another former world number one in the Spanish capital.
\nDusan Lajovic earned a surprise win over world number nine Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7\/5).
\nThe Serbian stunned 22-time Grand Slam winner and world number one Novak Djokovic on the way to winning the Banja Luka title last week, as well as beating world number six Andrey Rublev in the final.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MADRID Mirra Andreeva celebrated her 16th birthday on Saturday by setting up a Madrid Open showdown with world number two Aryba Sabalenka and admitted: \u201cI have nothing to lose\u201d. The Russian teenager, ranked a lowly 194, eased to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Magda Linette to reach the fourth round having already ousted 2021 US […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-328598","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n