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MADRID — Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva’s impressive run at the Madrid Open came to an end after a loss to second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka on Monday.
After three straight-sets victories against top-40 opponents in her main-draw debut, the 16-year-old wild card couldn’t get past Sabalenka in the fourth round, losing 6-3, 6-1 in her first center-court appearance in the Spanish capital.
Andreeva became the youngest player to reach the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event after upsetting 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in the first round, 14th-ranked Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second and 19th-ranked Magda Linette in the third. She won 16 straight matches at all levels before falling to Sabalenka, her first top-10 opponent.
“It was a great match,” the second-ranked Sabalenka said. “I’m really happy with the result. In the first few games I was just trying to adjust to her game and her rhythm. After that I started feeling my game a little bit better and started playing better.”
Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion and the 2021 Madrid Open winner, made it to the last eight in Madrid for the second time. She has reached at least the quarterfinals in all seven tournaments she has played in 2023, carrying a 26-4 record for the year.
Her next opponent will be Mayar Sherif, who defeated Elise Mertens 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 after nearly three hours to become the first Egyptian to reach the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 tournament. She was already the first Egyptian woman to play in a Grand Slam, and the first to win a tour title.
“It means a lot, just mentally, to be able to know that I can do this, that I can compete at the highest level in tennis,” said the 59th-ranked Sherif, who lives and trains in Spain. “It gives me a lot of motivation to keep improving, to keep working on the things that I need to work on, and to obviously take that confidence for the rest of the year.”
In the men’s draw, Daniil Medvedev came from a break down twice in the final set to reach the last 16 at the expense of fellow Russian Alexander Shevchenko with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 win.
“He’s young, so I’m sure he’s going to [move] up the rankings, especially if he plays like in this tournament,” Medvedev said of the 96th-ranked Shevchenko, who was making his main-draw debut in Madrid after coming through qualifying.
The victory took Medvedev to a tour-best 33-4 record this season. He will next face qualifier Aslan Karatsev, who defeated 16th-seeded Alex de Minaur 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Shevchenko, who appeared to struggle with cramps toward the end, led 5-1 in the first set but went down 5-0 in the second. He then led 2-0 and 4-2 in the decisive set.
“I feel like I played pretty well in the second and third sets, and maybe the end of the first,” the third-ranked Medvedev said. “The thing about clay [is] usually it is tough for me to start matches for whatever reason. I need a lot of time to get used to everything that is happening on the court. The third set [I could] have been a bit better at crucial moments, or maybe a lot better. But finally I won, so that counts also.”
This is the first time Medvedev has won consecutive matches in Madrid.
Eighth-seeded American Taylor Fritz defeated Cristian Garin 6-1, 7-6 (4), while fellow American Frances Tiafoe lost to Pedro Cachin 6-1, 7-6 (2). Jan-Lennard Struff defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-3.
Women’s No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek later faced 16th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari reached the last eight by beating home-crowd favorite Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-4, while 12th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova defeated eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (2).
Irina-Camelia Begu upset 14th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-4 to earn her third win against a top-20 opponent in 2023. It will be her third quarterfinal appearance in Madrid.
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