Playing her first match as a Top 100 player and her first Hologic WTA Tour event as a seed, Mirra Andreeva quickly settled into her new status.
The 16-year-old No.6 seed routed Dayana Yastremska 6-0, 6-2 in just 65 minutes to advance to the second round of the Ladies Open Lausanne. She will next face Anna Bondar, who earlier dismissed Aliona Bolsova 6-1, 6-3.
"I showed some great level, I think," Andreeva said after improving to 29-4 for the year. "You have to ask my coach."
Andreeva needed only six tournaments and four months to rocket from No.312 in April to her current No.64, including breakout runs at Roland Garros (third round) and Wimbledon (fourth round). At the latter, her ability to adapt to grass so well in her first event on the surface was the story; in Lausanne, Andreeva once again demonstrated mastery of her native clay.
A flawless opening set saw Andreeva outdo Yastremska with both creative offense and supreme defense. Opening up the court to fire precise backhand winners, including twice on break point, she reeled off the first eight games of the match.
Tactically, Andreeva was also spot on, repeatedly pinning Yastremska deep in her backhand corner with high balls that the World No.145 could not attack effectively.
Yastremska's signature power garnered the 23-year-old a pair of breaks in the second set, but her groundstrokes were too wild to convert that into momentum. Andreeva kept her nose in front and converted her first match point with a stellar backhand pass.
Afterward, Andreeva revealed that she has ticked off the ranking goal she set at the start of the year -- to reach the Top 70.
"Top 50 is the new goal, if I can," she said. "If not, I have 20 more years to do it."
Erika Andreeva, Mirra's older sister, fell in straight sets.
