Fatal breaks: Mirra Andreeva lost offensively in 1/4 of Wimbledon

For the first time since 2005, four Russians reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon at once (Anastasia Myskina, Nadezhda Petrova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova played at this stage 20 years ago). However, no one managed to make it to the semifinals. Following Karen Khachanov and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Lyudmila Samsonova and Mirra Andreeva lost their matches in a worthy struggle. And if Samsonova really got involved only in the second game in the confrontation with the former world number one Iga Sventek, then in the match between Mirra and Belinda Bencic, everything was decided by the small details at the end of both sets.

With tears

Andreeva Jr. was considered the undisputed favorite of the match with the champion of the 2020 Games in Tokyo. By betting on Bencic, it was possible to increase the pot almost three times (there was a modest coefficient of 1.45 for Myrrh). And there were reasons for that. Firstly, in the four matches played, the Russian has not lost a single game. Secondly, in 1/8 she easily passed the 10th seed Emma Navarro. Thirdly, Bencic, in turn, spent a lot of energy in fights with Elisabetta Kocciaretto and Ekaterina Alexandrova. It was obvious that the Swiss woman could get physically hooked at some point.

However, a serve came to the rescue of the 28-year-old tennis player. Mirra did not score a single break point in the first game. Bencic served a killer 90% with the first ball, taking her games too easily. Plus, she imposed a serious struggle at the reception. In the 11th game, Belinda reached two break points, but Andreeva was able to save the day. In the end, it came to a tie-break, where the nerves of our compatriot decided everything. Bencic took a 3-1 lead with a mini-break, but immediately made a double mistake. In the next draw, Mirra had a great opportunity to even the score, but from an advantageous position she could not score an easy ball at the net.

This greatly upset Andreeva. In the next four draws, she made two unforced errors and allowed her opponent to open an account. However, Mirra wasn't going to give up. In the third game, which lasted more than seven minutes, she won back two break points (shortened ones did not work at all for the Russian that evening), but in the fifth she took her serve to zero (3:2). The turning point could come in the eighth game. Bencic made a double mistake at 30:30, but won back a break point in a long draw (4:4). It seemed that in the style of men's tennis, the rivals would reach the second tie-break without losing serve, but that was not the case. With the score 4-4, the Russian began to be cautious, and from the second break point, the Swiss made a long-awaited break.

However, Belinda failed to apply for the match. Andreeva literally tortured her with sliced punches from the back line and, after a long struggle, equalized the score. Mirra then secured a minimum tiebreak, but she failed to catch Bencic's serve for the second time. The audience saw the mini-game up to seven points again, and once again the Swiss was the luckiest. However, it's not just luck. The Russian couldn't win a single ball on her serve, and at some point she started rushing. Belinda, despite the fact that she could hardly move around the court, took full advantage of such opportunities.

Mirra left the court in tears, although she should be proud of her performance at this major. She scored 420 points and is highly likely to become the fifth racket of the world on Monday, July 14 (having updated her personal best). Bencic returned to the top 20 of the live rating. Belinda will play in the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the second time in her career after the 2019 US Open. She will compete with Sventek for the right to play in the finals.

Submission Soldiers: how Russians perform at the crucial stage of Wimbledon

Another record by Andreeva and the defeat of Pavlyuchenkova and Khachanov

Iga — the fourth

Interestingly, this is the first time Iga will play at this stage of Wimbledon in his career. Grass is considered her least favorite surface, but this time in London, the Polish tennis player proves the opposite. So far, she has lost only one game, the opening game to Katie McNally in the second round. Lyudmila Samsonova could not worsen these statistics either. Having missed a break point in the very first game, the Russian offensively gave up her serve in the sixth. She led 40:15, but allowed Ige to win four draws in a row (4:2). After that, there was no stopping Sventek (8-18 on unforced).

But in the second set, tennis fans saw a real uncompromising struggle. Losing 3-0, Samsonova made a reverse break to zero, but then lost her serve again with a double fault on the "even" (4:2). It seemed that this was the end, but Lyudmila was able to relax and show beautiful tennis. One winner followed another, and soon the score was even. Sventek did not drop out of the game and made two aces in the ninth game, and also showed all her power in the 12th. After an unsuccessful shortened Yoke from the Russian, she decided not to bring the matter to a tie-break and ended the match with a beautiful forehand.

Sventek is the fourth current tennis player to reach the semifinals at all four Slams, after Arina Sobolenko, Victoria Azarenka and Karolina Pliskova. Samsonova added 300 rating points and rose from 19th to 17th place in the WTA, surpassing Daria Kasatkina and Clara Towson.