Andreeva resists Alexandrova and meets Bartunkova in the Beijing semifinals

The Russian Mirra Andreeva (n.5), pupil of the Spanish Conchita Martínez and fourth seed, defeated her compatriot Ekaterina this Thursday Alexandrova (n.28) by 7-6(6) and 7-6(3) to reach the semifinals of the Beijing tournament for the first time.

In one hour and 53 minutes on the hard court of the Diamond power plant in Beijing, Andreeva She had to overcome in both tiebreaks the danger that she had allowed to grow during the rounds, against a rival who used her service to close each one.

The young Russian started with a break and a 2-0 lead, but Alexandrova It gained ground until it was 5-3. When he seemed to have the first set within reach, he lost his serve turn blank, which ended with a double fault. Andreeva He took the opportunity to return to the match and ended up deciding a tight tiebreaker.

The second moto seemed to offer a more comfortable path. A parallel backhand forehand – and then another backhand down the line to save a breaking ball – helped her get away to 4-1 and, later, 5-2.

However, Alexandrova he reacted again. He prevented his compatriot from closing with the serve and chained four games to go ahead 6-5. Andreeva then found herself on the verge of a third set, but responded with another break and brought the resolution back to the tiebreaker.

There, from 3-3, he won four consecutive points and sealed the victory on his first match point. Her greater control of errors proved decisive, with 16 unforced errors compared to Alexandrova’s 32.

This year’s champion Roland GarrosAdelaide and Linz thus achieved their first victory against their compatriot, who had won their two previous matches, and maintains their chances of adding a third WTA 1,000 title.

Andreeva will seek a place in the final against the Czech Nikola Bartunkova (n.34), who extended her surprising journey by defeating her compatriot Karolina Muchova (n.8) 6-3 and 6-0.