Andreeva survives stern second-set test from Tjen in Cincinnati
No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva advanced to the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open in two contrasting sets, converting her fourth match point to quell a stern challenge from No. 32 seed Janice Tjen 6-1, 7-6(5) in 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Andreeva, a quarterfinalist in Cincinnati in her only previous appearance at the tournament in 2024, has now won consecutive matches for the first time since capturing her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in June. She'll next face No. 10 seed Marta Kostyuk for the fourth time this year. Kostyuk leads their head-to-head 2-1, though Andreeva won their most recent meeting in the Roland Garros semifinals.
Little troubled Andreeva as she cruised through a 28-minute opening set against Tjen. She saved the only break point she faced in the second game of the match, and thereafter out-manoeuvred the Indonesian player, who committed 10 unforced errors -- including nine from her heavier forehand wing, which was prone to over-pressing.
But following a medical timeout between sets, Tjen resumed play with her racquet hand strapped -- and her level rose exponentially. She reined in her forehand errors while still retaining its power, and it was responsible for several electric winners when she unleashed and went for the lines with the shot.
Several of Tjen's higher-risk moves -- particularly when running around her forehand to strike an inside-in down the line -- were breathtaking. Moreover, her point construction in the second set was more patient, even when Andreeva attempted to trap her in extended duels with her backhand slice.
Tjen's most impressive asset towards the end of the set was her sheer grit as she sought her first Top 10 win, and to win back-to-back tour-level matches for the first time since Dubai in February. Down 4-3, she saved two break points that would have left Andreeva serving for the match. Down 5-4, she came through an extraordinary six-deuce hold, saving two match points along the way -- the first with a service winner and the second with a forehand winner into the corner.
Andreeva had grit of her own to show, though. The 19-year-old kept a cool head throughout Tjen's increasing pressure, with her hold for 6-5 particularly impressive. Having just lost that marathon game and missed the match points, Tjen had all the momentum as she took a 0-30 lead. Andreeva responded with an ace, a backhand winner and four straight points to inch ahead again.
In the ensuing tiebreak, Andreeva trailed 4-3, and once again found a backhand winner and an ace to retake the lead. Down 5-4, it was Tjen who finally cracked. Her forehand-centric game meant that she had been under constant pressure to go big with the shot -- a strategy that had taken a set to start paying off. But at this crucial moment, Tjen went too big with it, and the forehand went wide to give Andreeva two more match points. She converted the second of those, wrong-footing Tjen with a clever forehand down the line.
And not only did Andreeva pass the mental test, her serve proved to be a rock-solid foundation. Almost every tight moment in the second set was contested on the Tjen delivery. Despite how narrowly contested it was, Andreeva did not face a break point during it.
"I feel like in the second set, she started serving better. I feel her first serve percentage got higher, and I felt that because I was struggling a little bit with returning her serve," Andreeva said to press. "She was placing the ball pretty well, closer to the lines, and I just felt like if I don't hold my serve, then I'm going to be in big trouble.
"I was constantly trying to tell myself 'Mirra, you got to hold. Mirra, you just have to hold your serve.' It was 5-all, 0-30 down, I was like, 'No way, I'm gonna lose my serve now.' After having many match points, I just tried to not to think of what's going to happen. I really tried to focus on holding my serve, and it kind of actually helped not to think about those missed opportunities that I've had."
Andreeva also revealed her strategy for coping with the additional pressure of becoming a Grand Slam champion this year -- something she had a taste of after winning Indian Wells in 2025, but this time more self-imposed. It's a mindset switch that her psychologist helped her come to only as recent as the past two weeks.
"I felt like it was also a big deal for me to win [Indian Wells] and everyone was talking, 'Oh, she's playing great, oh, she's going to win more matches, more tournaments,' and it was completely the opposite from that," she said on-court. "I felt like this time it was pretty much the same, but I was the one putting more pressure on myself. But now, after a lot of talking with my psychologist, I'm trying to see it as just another tournament that I won. So three tournaments that I won this year [Adelaide, Linz and Roland Garros] -- they're all the same, and that's how I'm trying to approach it. It's easier like that."
