Jun 5, 2024; Paris, France; Mirra Andreeva celebrates winning her match against Aryna Sabalenka on day 11 of Roland Garros at Stade Roland Garros.

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Mirra Andreeva Remains On Course to Win a Porsche as Elder Sister Erika Retires at WTA Stuttgart Open 2025

Andreeva to face Alexandrova in Round-2.

Jun 5, 2024; Paris, France; Mirra Andreeva celebrates winning her match against Aryna Sabalenka on day 11 of Roland Garros at Stade Roland Garros.

17-year-old Mirra Andreeva progressed to Round-2 of the WTA Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, in rather unfortunate style. Competing against her elder sister Erika Andreeva, Mirra was forced to look on as the 20-year-old had to retire from the encounter. Mirra Andreeva ended up winning 6-2 1-0 (Ret.) in just over half an hour.

The 2025 edition of the WTA Stuttgart Open happens to be Mirra Andreeva’s debut at the event. Having recently won back-to-back WTA-1000 trophies in Dubai and Indian Wells, the prodigious Russian is on an all-time high in terms of confidence. “I already thought about which cars I would like to get,” stated Andreeva before the start of her campaign. However, she went on to remind herself that she doesn’t have her driver’s license yet.

Sixth seed Mirra Andreeva will now face Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Round of 16 on Thursday.

Knee Injury Forces Erika Andreeva to Retire Against Mirra Andreeva in Stuttgart

Prior to this match-up, Erika led the head to head against younger sister Mirra. However, she sparked minor concerns very early on with her right knee being heavily bandaged. As the match started, Erika broke Mirra’s serve in the first game but couldn’t sustain her level. At the very first changeover, she requested for a medical timeout.

With her knee having multiple layers of taping now, it was more or less a lost cause for Erika. The younger Andreeva maneuvered the ball around the court and eased her way to the first set 6-2. In the second set, the Paris Olympics silver medalist in women’s doubles won a solitary opening game before her elder sibling had to call it quits.

Mirra won nearly 94% points on her first serve, as opposed to just over 33% for Erika. She also converted 100% (3/3) break points in comparison with 33.3% (1/3) for her opponent.

Mirra Andreeva Credits Erika After Unfortunate Withdrawal in Round-1

Erika Andreeva entered the WTA Stuttgart Open as a lucky loser, after Marta Kostyuk pulled out. Having won their previous encounter in Wuhan 2024 by a convincing 6-3 6-1 margin, she had all the weapons to pull off another upset. According to the sisters, Erika also won every single practice set they played during their younger days. Unfortunately, all of this was thrown out of the window when she picked up the knee injury early on.

"She showed me the way" 🥹💚

Unfortunately, Erika Andreeva is forced to retire due to injury sending Mirra Andreeva into the Round of 16.#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/CFEAE8X8FC
— wta (@WTA) April 16, 2025

“If she wouldn’t start playing tennis before me, I don’t think I would play that well this fast,” admitted Mirra. The teenager who is three years younger to Erika, was self-admittedly shown the path to success. “Because of her, it was easier for me to start playing bigger tournaments right away. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I would be playing this tournament this year.”

As the two players embraced at the net, it was a heart-touching moment for everyone seated on Centre Court. Mirra will be back on Thursday for her Round of 16 against another Russian in the form of Alexandrova.

Dubai Open

Ekaterina Alexandrova

Erika Andreeva

Indian Wells Masters

Mirra Andreeva

Tennis

WTA

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.