By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Mirra Andreeva began her U.S. Open campaign with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 victory over unseeded Indonesian Janice Tjen on Tuesday to reach the second round and keep her bid for a second Grand Slam title on track.
Andreeva announced herself by claiming this year’s French Open title on clay to become the third-youngest major champion this century behind Maria Sharapova and Emma Raducanu, but she showed she is no slouch on hard courts.
The 19-year-old, who looked right at home during her run to the mixed doubles semi-finals with fellow Russian Andrey Rublev last week, relied on her power and precision again to dispatch Tjen under the roof of Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Andreeva later said she was working on moving past her major breakthrough in Paris and manage the expectations on her, as she attempts to reach the second week at Flushing Meadows for the first time.
“I’ve been talking to my psychologist about it a lot, trying to think about it as just another tournament I won this year and not put labels on it,” Andreeva told reporters.
“Now I feel I’m just trying to move on in a way, like ‘okay, I won. That was great’ but now it’s another tournament I want to win and that I have to try and show the best level that I have.
“I don’t know, another Grand Slam, I have to play well to maintain my level, I have to play well because people expect me to play well, and now as I’m a Grand Slam champion, I expect myself to play well.”
Andreeva drew first blood with a fiery forehand winner to break for a 3-2 lead in the opening set, which the fifth seed completely dominated thereafter and closed out after only 31 minutes of action.
“Our match in Cincinnati was really tough … the conditions were tough as it was hot and humid,” Andreeva said, referring to her win over Tjen in the U.S. Open tune-up last month.
“It was the first time I was playing her … She’s not easy to play against. Today, I was just trying to talk to my coach to see what we can do better in order for me to feel confident on the court. I was trying to be very aggressive.
“I was trying to go for my shots, and after everything I just feel like today it was a better match.”
There was no respite for Tjen in the second set as Andreeva dialled up the intensity to claim another early break before she sealed the victory to set up a clash with Germany’s Eva Lys in the next round.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New York; Additional reporting by Janina Nuno Rios; Editing by Toby Davis and Stephen Coates)
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