MELBOURNE, Australia — You could just tell this was going to be Mirra Andreeva’s night. After winning eight straight games to begin the Wednesday evening night session at Margaret Court Arena, the No. 8-seeded toppled Maria Sakkari 6-0, 6-4 to reach the third round at the Australian Open.
Australian Open: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Sakkari’s performance — predominantly in the first eight games — was haunted by an influx of unforced errors. Whether sailing long and far or simple hitting the net, Sakkari could not find her rhythm initially. Andreeva, the highest ranked teenager on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz made life difficult for the Greek, often dictating Sakkari’s movement in longer rallies and outlasting her in those points. Andreeva’s first set bagel was her first since the opening round of the 2025 US Open vs. Alycia Parks.
Eventually, Sakkari found a spark temporarily, and she certainly never gave up on the match despite her frustration. Down 0-2, 0-15 in the third game of the second set, she found brief new life in the match, winning 12 consecutive points to capture a 3-2 lead in the set. The shift energized the crowd, but soon the same issues returned and Andreeva notched a pivotal break at 5-4 and ultimately served for the set and the match.
Here are the numbers that defined the first meeting between Andreeva and Sakkari:
4: Since the turn of the century, Andreeva, 18, is the fourth player to register 30 or more wins in Grand Slam singles before turning 19 — she’s joined by Maria Sharapova, Nicole Vaidisova and World No. 3 Coco Gauff. She earned her eighth win at the Australian Open singles, the most of of any active player before turning 19.
5: The World No. 7 broke Sakkari’s serve five times Wednesday. The two most crucial times were the opening game in the second set and when she built a 5-4 lead setting up a chance to serve for the match.
7: Sakkari had just seven winners — zero in the first set — against Andreeva, 20 less than she notched in her first-round win over Leolia Jeanjean.
15: Andreeva really capitalized on Sakkari’s first serve. In the first set, the Greek managed to only win 15% (2-of13) of points for her first serve, propelling Andreeva’s rapid start. By the match’s end, that number increased to 41%.
27: What plagued Sakkari the most were the unforced errors, racking up 27 of them. Andreeva only had 11 winners on the night.
29: In rallies of four shots or less, Andreeva won 29 points or her total 55. Of those 29, she won 19 of them. In longer rallies of nine shots or more, Andreeva had the edge 12-7, but both players earned 14 points on rallies of 5-to-8 shots.
67: Andreeva needed one hour and 17 minutes to secure the win over the World No. 51. To begin the 2026 season, she’s won five of six matches in straight sets.
Andreeva advances to the third round where she will face Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who knocked off Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-4. Similarly, this will be their first overall meeting on the WTA Tour.
