Supreme Andreeva, 16, crushes sixth seed Jabeur, Wozniacki also out

Updated 17/01/2024 at 06:31 GMT

There was a big upset on day four of the 2024 Australian Open as Ons Jabeur crashed out in the second round, with the Tunisian winning just two games as teenager Mirra Andreeva continued her stunning rise. Andreeva was the junior girls runner-up in Melbourne last year and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon. Elsewhere, Caroline Wozniacki bowed out after a three-set defeat to Maria Timofeeva.Jabeur suffers big shock as Andreeva records stunning win – Australian Open highlights

Mirra Andreeva claimed the first top-10 win of her career as she destroyed sixth seed Ons Jabeur 6-0 6-2 to reach the Australian Open third round.

The 16-year-old, who lists the Tunisian among her idols, put in a statement performance to suggest a deep run at Melbourne Park is not only possible, but likely.

Jabeur started the match with a thumping ace, but from that point on it was one-way traffic as Andreeva nullified everything her rival threw at her.

Andreeva’s fierce hitting from the baseline, combined with Jabeur’s often wayward groundstrokes, saw the Russian wrap up a first-set bagel in just 20 minutes.

Jabeur finally got on the board in the opening game of the second set, pointing to the sky as an unorthodox forehand dropped into the corner.

But the Tunisian found the tramlines in her next service game to surrender another break, before seeing Andreeva move 4-1 ahead when she found the net again when down break point.

Andreeva sealed victory when Jabeur went long, with the Russian putting her hands to her head after producing the biggest win of her career.

‘I’m really inspired by Ons’ – Andreeva reacts to defeating Jabeur in big shock

“I was really nervous before the match because I am really inspired by Ons, the way she plays,” said Andreeva, the runner-up in the junior girls final in Melbourne last year.

“Before I started to play on the WTA Tour I always watched her matches. I was always so inspired by the way she plays and now I had the chance to play against her.

“Honestly, in the first set, I played amazing tennis. I didn’t expect that from myself.”

She added: “This year, I think I’ve changed a lot and you can see that on the court.

Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki’s return to Grand Slam action ended at the second hurdle as she was dumped out 1-6 6-4 6-1 by Andreeva’s compatriot, Maria Timofeeva.

The Dane appeared to have too much power as she raced through the first set, and then broke at the start of the second, but Timofeeva – on her major debut – stayed tough and broke back for 2-2.

A wild end to the set saw three consecutive breaks of serve, with Timofeeva levelling up the scores as a Wozniacki volley drifted beyond the baseline.

Wozniacki again broke at the start of the third set, but Timofeeva duly broke straight back before reeling off the next five games to advance.

Timofeeva ends Wozniacki’s comeback dream with win – Australian Open highlights

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