Mirra Andreeva achieved her first victory over her sister Erika when her older sister had to retire during their first-round match at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
Erika, ranked 97th globally, had previously defeated her younger sister Mirra, currently ranked No. 7 in the world, in their only prior professional encounter in Wuhan last year with a score of 6-3, 6-1.
In this match, Erika broke Mirra`s serve in the first game. However, the momentum shifted towards the Indian Wells champion, Mirra, after Erika took an early medical timeout to treat her right knee.
Trailing 6-2, 1-0, Erika, aged 20, decided to stop playing due to the injury. She and Mirra shared a hug at the net as Erika retired early in the second set.
“We share a room, so I was aware of what she was experiencing,” Mirra mentioned in her interview on court.
“Honestly, my emotions are mixed. I should be a bit happy about winning, but I`m also very sad that it ended this way. I believe she will take time to recover and return even stronger.”
Mirra`s next opponent in the second round will be fellow Russian player Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Two-time Winner Swiatek Cruises into Third Round
Iga Swiatek, a two-time former champion in Stuttgart and the second seed, easily defeated qualifier Jana Fett 6-2, 6-2 in her second-round match on Wednesday.
The five-time Grand Slam winner displayed her dominant form on Germany`s indoor clay, making quick work of Fett, who had previously upset Donna Vekic in the first round for her first WTA Tour main-draw victory.
Two breaks of serve were sufficient for Swiatek to win the first set. Fett briefly took the lead in the second set with an early break, but Swiatek quickly recovered and broke Fett`s serve twice more to secure a comfortable win.
In the third round, Swiatek is set to face the winner of the match between No. 7 seed Emma Navarro and Jelena Ostapenko.
