Mirra Andreeva saved five set points in a tense first set before dominating Magda Linette in a tiebreak and the second set to advance to the third round of the Doha tournament for the first time. The 18-year-old Russian secured a 7-6(0), 6-1 victory in 1 hour and 43 minutes. Andreeva now leads their head-to-head 3-1.
Mirra Andreeva faced a challenging second-round match against Magda Linette at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha on Monday night. The opening set lasted 73 minutes, with Andreeva absorbing pressure from the experienced Polish player. Linette earned five set points on Andreeva's serve, but the teenager saved them all to force a tiebreak.
In the tiebreak, Andreeva was flawless, winning 7-0 without losing a single point—a first for her at the WTA Tour level. This momentum carried into the second set, which she dominated in just 30 minutes, winning 6-1. Andreeva captured 29 points to Linette's 15 in that set and saved 10 break points overall, including eight in the first set and one while serving for the match at 5-1.
"Every time I play against Magda, it’s always not easy," Andreeva said in her on-court interview. "She’s an amazing fighter. She fights for every point. She puts a lot of balls back in the court. When I saw I was going to be playing her, I was a little nervous because she’s an amazing player, a great competitor and she’s very experienced."
The match concluded just after 11 p.m. local time, with Andreeva thanking the supportive crowd: "Thank you, everyone, who stayed so late and watched our match. It really means a lot. It’s not nice to play in an empty stadium, so thank you very much for the support."
This victory marks Andreeva's third win over Linette, all in straight sets, and brings her WTA 1000 record to 38-16, a 70.9% win rate that ranks her fifth among active players with at least 10 matches. She could face Victoria Mboko in the third round if the Canadian defeats Vera Zvonareva. Andreeva previously beat Mboko in the Adelaide final last month.