Andreeva returns to Australian Open fourth round; to face Svitolina next

No. 8 seed Mirra Andreeva made it three wins out of three for the teenage contingent in action on Friday at the Australian Open, holding off Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour and 34 minutes to reach the fourth round for a third year in a row.

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For No. 17 seed Victoria Mboko, 19, and No. 29 seed Iva Jovic, 18 -- both earlier winners over higher-ranked opponents -- it was a milestone day, as both advanced to the second week of a major for the first time. For Andreeva, 18, it's become par for the course. She has now made at least the fourth round in seven of the 12 Grand Slam main draws she has contested, and she has never lost before that stage in Melbourne.

Five teenagers had featured in the third round -- the most at any major since the 2009 US Open -- and Saturday will see Czech pair Tereza Valentova and Nikola Bartunkova attempt to join Andreeva, Mboko and Jovic. Should either succeed, four teenagers will feature in a Grand Slam fourth round for the first time since the 2009 US Open (Caroline Wozniacki, Yanina Wickmayer, Melanie Oudin and Petra Kvitova). Should both Valentova and Bartunkova win, it will mark the first time five teenagers have made a Grand Slam fourth round since the 2007 US Open (Agnieszka Radwanska, Tamira Paszek, Victoria Azarenka, Agnes Szavay and Ana Ivanovic).

Andreeva's playfulness was on display once again in her on-court interview with Jelena Dokic. By now, the youngster's delight in thanking herself and banter with her team are familiar -- but Dokic's revelation that she had once partnered Conchita Martínez, Andreeva's coach, to the Roland Garros doubles final in 2001 was a surprise to Andreeva.

She didn't skip a beat.

"I guess you carried the team," she told Dokic, who covered her face to hide her laughter. In the stands, Martínez blew a kiss, and Andreeva rowed back -- "OK, I went too far, I'm sorry" -- before Dokic asserted that in fact, she had been carried by Martínez.

Dokic also brought up footage of Andreeva and her team larking around in the player gym before the match -- a fake phone call was involved, and Andreeva relished her "opportunity to do something to annoy people" -- another reflection of how they keep the atmosphere relaxed in the pressure cauldron of a Grand Slam environment.

"To just fool around and really do nothing -- what helps, helps," as Andreeva put it.

It certainly helped in the match, which saw Andreeva maintain a fine balance between being defensive without becoming too passive. Initially, it worked to perfection: Andreeva lured the powerful Ruse into off-pace rallies, throwing angled slices and high balls at the Romanian; invariably, either Andreeva would find an unexpected angle for a winning shot, such as a delightful sliced pass early in the second set, or Ruse would over-hit.

"I knew she likes to play aggressive," Andreeva said. "She's a big hitter, so our plan was basically try to neutralize her groundstrokes."

A sequence of five consecutive breaks in the second set saw Ruse threaten a comeback, but Andreeva put a stop to that run with an authoritative hold for 5-3. Consistency continued to elude Ruse, who netted a sitter volley down match point to tally her 44th unforced error of the day.

Andreeva will next face No. 12 seed Elina Svitolina, who came through a high-intensity battle 7-6(4), 6-3 over No. 23 seed Diana Shnaider. The Ukrainian was able to elevate her game in key moments -- she fired her first three aces of the day in the first-set tiebreak, including two in a row on the last two points, then set up a key break at 4-3 in the second set with superlative defensive work. Svitolina, the Auckland champion two weeks ago, extended her winning streak to eight matches and advance to the second week of a major for the 21st time.

Andreeva and Svitolina have met once before -- in last year's Indian Wells quarterfinals, which Andreeva won 7-5, 6-3 en route to the title. Andreeva will be bidding to reach her fourth major quarterfinal, and first in Australia; Svitolina is seeking her 14th major quarterfinal, and fourth in Australia.