Roland Garros champ Andreeva handles Linette to reach Wimbledon second round

Mirra Andreeva avoided becoming the fourth woman to lose in the Wimbledon first round after winning the Roland Garros title in the same season, defeating Magda Linette 7-5, 6-4 in 1 hour and 43 minutes on Monday to reach the second round at the All England Club.

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Andreeva, the first teenager to compete at Wimbledon in women’s singles as a Top 5 seed since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010, managed the heightened expectations with the discipline of a Major champion. She overcame a stiff challenge from Linette to improve to 4-1 against the Pole at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level and to 39-12 in Grand Slam main draws.

"The feeling after you win a Grand Slam is unbelievable, so of course I feel great," Andreeva said in her on-court interview. "But on the other side, you sometimes expect more from yourself or you feel a little bit more pressure -- you know, people expect you to do well. Next time I will try to completely block out those thoughts, because today I was thinking about that a little bit. But yeah, that's the other side of the coin."

With the win, Andreeva is now 13-1 in Grand Slam first rounds and has won her last nine opening matches. She will face Barbora Krejcikova in the second round, after the former Wimbledon champion defeated 17-year-old British wild card Hannah Klugman in straight sets earlier Monday.

Andreeva is 3-1 against Krejcikova, winning their most recent meeting in Ningbo in 2024.

Here are things to know from Andreeva's win in her first Grand Slam match as a Major champion:

• Andreeva followed a familiar winning formula, holding the edge on her first serve -- 67% first serves in, 68% first-serve points won and eight aces -- and finding her backhand with regularity, especially up the line. She finished with 23 winners overall, one more than Linette, and 23 unforced errors, one fewer than her opponent.
• That said, two forehand winners stood out above the rest. Andreeva carved out just enough space to sneak the first past Linette and inside the line, then went crosscourt on the next point, again placing it where Linette couldn't reach it. A few points later, a timely net cord helped her break for 3-2 in the opening set.
• While that was a stroke of luck, the 19-year-old was also more clutch in key moments, converting 4 of 10 break points compared with Linette's 2 of 8. The most notable conversion came in the penultimate game, when Linette double-faulted and Andreeva finally secured the break on her fourth time of asking at the end of a five-deuce game. She then closed out the match with a love hold.

• Linette won a pair of points at the net in that penultimate game, continuing a pattern that troubled Andreeva throughout the match. The Pole won 86% of her net points (24 of 28), using a mix of slices and volleys off both wings to keep Andreeva under pressure.
• Ultimately, it wasn't enough for Linette to flip the result. She exits in the opening round of a Slam for the ninth time in her last 11 appearances. Since her Grand Slam main-draw debut at Roland Garros in 2015, she has lost 26 first-round matches, the most in women's singles during that span.

Final thoughts

Overall, Andreeva acknowledged there was work to be done but was satisfied simply to advance and keep her Wimbledon campaign alive.

"I felt like I had a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes I wish I would play a little more consistent, or maybe a little more brave at times, but a win is a win," Andreeva said. "Even though I was complaining quite a lot on court (laughing), I'm just very happy with the win today."