Mirra Andreeva joined the Elite list after beating Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka on the way to the title Indian Wells – Firstpost

Mirra Andreeva was held at the Indian Wells Open to win her second consecutive title of WTA 1000 after having triumphed in the tennis championships in Dubai earlier this month. In the process, she became the third largest woman to be crowned champion at Indian Wells after Martina Hingis and Serena Williams in 1998 and 1999 respectively.

What made the Russian victory 2–6, 6-4, 6–3 on the Triple Champion of the Grand Chelem Aryna Sabalenka even more special on Sunday is that she became the second player in the history of WTA to defeat the players of the Top two in the world in the same tournament.

Andreeva makes history in the desert

Andreeva, currently 17 years and 10 months old, had beaten the world No. 2 IGA Swiatek 7-6 (7-1), 1-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals on Saturday before bouncing a shoot to defeat the best classified Sabalenka in the final.

Only the former American tennis player Tracy Austin had defeated the first two in the world in the same tournament at a younger age, and she did it twice.

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Austin was 16 years old and 8 months old when she beat the world No. 2 Martina Navratilova in the US Open semi-finals in 1979, and would continue to defeat the N ° 1 in the world Chris Evert in the final.

Two months later, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Filderstadt, West Germany, it would once again triumph over Evert and Navratilova – which had exchanged space at the top of the WTA ranking this time and was second and first respectively.

Williams, a Grand Chelem champion at 23 times which is considered one of the greatest players of all time, occupies the next two slots on the list of younger players to defeat the top two of the WTA in the same event.

She was 17 years old and 11 months old when she defeated her American compatriot Lindsay Davenport, ranked second at the time, in the semi-final of the US Open in 1999 before triumpling on the world 1 world in Hingis in the final to win her first Grand Chelem.

It would once again defeat Hingis and Davenport in Los Angeles the following year at the age of 18 and 10 months.