No. 7 Mirra Andreeva will be in the majors for the third consecutive 16th consecutive appearance in the majors after relaxing the unseeded American Hailey Baptiste 6-1, 6-3 in Saturday’s third round match at Wimbledon.
18-year-old Andreeva became the youngest woman to reach the final 16 in the first three majors of the season since Nicole Vaidisova did so in 2006 at the age of 17.
The best seed remaining in the lower half of the women’s draw in the first week marked with the Hughes set, Andreva has yet to drop a set comparable to her best run at the All England Club.
After failing to advance past the previous second round, Baptist, who made the third round in the back-to-back major, had been bidding to become the second unseeded American woman to reach the 16th round at Wimbledon in the past decade.
“To be honest, I was very focused today,” said Andreeva, coached by 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez. “I saw her first round and I knew it would be difficult because she created a lot of different things on the court and has a forehand rocket.
“Every time I play, I feel like I’m on an elevated level.”
They played in Court 1 with the roof closed.
Andreeva is waiting for the defensive winner of Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova (No. 17) and Emma Navarro, the best seeded American woman left in the draw at No. 10.
Other women’s singles resulted in Saturday, 19th seed Lyudmira Samsonova defeated Russia’s 16th seed Dahlia Kasatokina 6-2, 6-3.
ESPN research and Reuters contributed to this report.
