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Russian teen Andreeva eases into French Open last 16, to meet Kasatkina / Photo: © AFP
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Russian teen Andreeva eases into French Open last 16, to meet Kasatkina
Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva eased into the last 16 at the French Open on Saturday with a straight-sets win over Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.
The 18-year-old, seeded sixth at Roland Garros, sealed a 6-3, 6-1 win in 78 minutes on her first match point.
She next plays Australian Daria Kasatkina, ranked 17, for a place in the quarter-finals.
Kasatkina got past Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa 6-1, 7-5 in their third round match which lasted one hour 33 minutes.
"I knew she's a very tricky player, she plays very interesting and makes it a little uncomfortable for me so I struggled in the beginning," said Andreeva of her first meeting with world number 31 Putintseva.
"I practice against her so knew what to expect. I'm happy with the way I played today."
Andreeva converted five of her eight break point chances, being broken once with 18 unforced errors to 16 for her rival.
Andreeva, who reached the semi-finals last year, is hoping to become the youngest woman to win a Grand Slam title since her compatriot Maria Sharapova's famous 2004 Wimbledon triumph.
She was still having to do school work during her run in 2024, which included a shock quarter-final win over Aryna Sabalenka.
She has climbed to a career-high ranking of sixth this season and became the youngest ever winner of a WTA 1000 title in Dubai in February, before securing another at Indian Wells.
Andreeva is hoping for another strong performance at Roland Garros, with both Sabalenka and reigning champion Iga Swiatek in the other half of the draw.
Kasatkina, 28, competing in Roland Garros for the tenth time, reached the semi-finals in 2022.
H.King--SFF
