Watch Mirr Andreeva defeat childhood idol Ons Jabeur in the player above.
The last time Andreeva played on Melbourne Park’s Rod Laver center court was last year when she lost the youth final on the same court. The Russian explained that she gained more experience since then.
– Last year I was 15 and I think that I have changed a lot, become more mature, and that you can see it on the court, says Andreeva and drew laughter from the audience after the victory in the second round.
Andreeva took command immediately and pushed back the experienced Tunisian who has played in three Grand Slam finals.
Best youth performance since 1999
– I was so nervous before the match because I was so inspired by Ons and her way of playing. Before I started on the WTA tour, I always watched her matches. Now I got a chance to play against her and played some great tennis in the first set, which actually surprised me, says Andreeva.
Not since 1999 has such a young player dropped just two games against a top 10 player in a Grand Slam. Jelena Dokic won against then world number one Martina Hingis with 6-0,6-2 in the first round of Wimbledon.