Mirra Andreeva wasn’t at her best Wednesday in Linz, but she didn’t need to be. The 18-year-old did more than enough to defeat Sloane Stephens, earning a 6-4, 6-2 win in 1 hour and 21 minutes to reach the quarterfinals of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz.
The victory over Stephens, a former US Open champion, is Andreeva’s 13th over a past Grand Slam singles champion at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level and her first since she beat Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka on way to the 2025 Indian Wells title.
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As she did in those matches, Andreeva had to work harder than usual to secure the win.
Andreeva looked headed for a routine win when she raced out to a 5-1 lead as Stephens’ unforced errors piled up. But serving for the set, the momentum shifted. Andreeva suddenly struggled to find the court, allowing Stephens to reel off three straight games to close the gap to 5-4. On her fourth set point, Andreeva finally closed out the opener.
She continued to search for her best level in the second set, finishing with 33 unforced errors to 13 winners. Still, she found enough stability behind her first serve, winning 76% of those points (25 of 33) and facing just one break point.
Next up for Andreeva is No. 5 seed Sorana Cirstea. They have yet to face one another at the WTA level.
A win would send Andreeva to her first semifinal since claiming the Adelaide title in January.
Ostapenko closes out Eala
In a battle between two of the game’s cleanest ball-strikers, Jelena Ostapenko came away with a hard-fought straight-sets win over the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala to move into the quarterfinals.
The Latvian, champion here in 2024 and runner-up in 2019, had not beaten Eala in their two previous meetings on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. Early on, it looked like the 20-year-old Filipina might continue her dominance in the matchup. Eala broke in the sixth game to lead 4-2 before Ostapenko won four consecutive games to take the opening set 6-4.
In the second set, Eala again took control, racing to a double-break lead at 5-1. She even held a set point in the eighth game, but Ostapenko, determined to turn the tide, reeled off six straight games to seal a 6-4, 7-5 victory in 1 hour, 43 minutes.
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Both players earned nine break-point opportunities. Ostapenko, ranked No. 23 in the WTA PIF Rankings, converted six, while Eala, ranked 46th, managed four.
Ostapenko will next face Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the quarterfinals. Ruse rallied from a set down to defeat Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, improving to 5-0 in their head-to-head meetings. The clash will mark the first career meeting between Ostapenko and Ruse, with a semifinal berth on the line.
