Lausanne | Bondar upsets Andreeva, as Cocciaretto and Avanesyan advance

16-year old Mirra Andreeva, the 6th seed from Russian, was upset by Hungarian Anna Bondar, ranked 155 in the world, 7-6(3) 6-3, on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Ladies Open Lausanne in Switzerland.

They traded breaks in the first set before its outcome was decided by the breaker, and Bondar, who was also down a break in the second, came back to deny the teenager her first Last 8 appearance on the WTA Tour after the 1 hour 41 minute tussle.

Andreeva took an early 4-1 lead on Bondar in the first set and looked to be firmly in control after saving a trio of break points to lead 5-2, but, serving for the set at 5-3, the teenager played a loose, error-filled game to get broken, and the Hungarian eventually took the set in the breaker.

Breaking immediately, Andreeva went ahead in the second, but again Bondar reeled her in, and, after trailing 1-3, the Hungarian broke to level the set at 3-3.

Bondar then broke Andreeva for a third and final time to lead 5-3, before she closed out the win to love, having fired 5 aces while the teenager served none.

The Hungarian also won 84% of her first-serve points to Andreeva’s 64%, and she also won 48% of her second-serve points, although the young Russian made 52%, but crucially Bondar saved 4 of 6 break points she faced while converting 3 break points on the Andreeva delivery.

Bondar will now play either Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo or Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia, who meet on Thursday, for a chance to reach the semi-finals.

No 8 seed Elina Avanesyan reached her third WTA quarter-final of the year after defeating qualifier Chloe Paquet from a set down in the 2nd-round in Lausanne.

In other Wednesday action, 7th-seeded Alizé Cornet from France advanced to the 2nd-round with a 3-6 6-1 6-3 win over Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic, while Zidansek completed her upset of Lucia Bronzetti, the 4th seeded Italian, 6-2 6-4, in a match held over from Tuesday to complete play in round 1.

Cornet made a come-back after dropping the opening set against the local favourite, and won in 2 hours and 10 minutes to face another Swiss hero in Jil Teichmann.

Following her run to the Round of 16 at the French Open, No 8 seed Elina Avanesyan, a 20-year old from Russia ranked 68 at the start of the week, moved into her 3rd WTA quarter-final in the last 2 months by defeating France’s Chloe Paquet, 2-6 7-5 6-1, after 2 hours and 15 minutes of play.

Avanesyan next meets 2nd-seeded Elisabetta Cocciaretto, after the Italian made it into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 3-6 6-3 win over Julia Riera.

Cocciaretto needed 2 hours and 36 minutes to get past the Argentine, winning 55% of her first-serve points to Riera’s 53%, and 50% of her second-serve points in the process.

Both had 4 double-faults apiece, and although Cocciaretto did not strike a single ace, Riera fired 6 of them across the match.

This is the 4th quarter-final Cocciaretto has reached this year, having made it into the Last 8 in Mexico, Monterrey and Merida, while she also reached the final of the Hobart International in January where she lost to American Lauren Davis.

Elisabetta Cocciaretto, the No 2 seed, reached her 4th tour-level quarter-final of 2023 with a 3-set win over Julia Riera at the WTA 250 clay court event in Lausanne.