Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams has been drawn to meet 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the Cincinnati first round. In Cincinnati, tennis fans will have a chance to watch one of the best players of all time against one of the most promising and talented players of the current generation.
Williams, who turned 43 in June, is 27 years old younger than Andreeva and the American was a Grand Slam champion even before the Russian was born. Williams, now ranked at No 533 in the world, received a main draw wildcard into Cleveland.
On the other side, Andreeva is ranked at No 67 in the world and she made the main draw cut directly.
Williams set to meet Andreeva in her Cleveland opener
Andreeva may be just 16 but she has proved in the last few months that she can compete at the highest level, having made the round-of-16 at Wimbledon and Madrid.
On the other side, Williams’ best days are behind her but the American is still doing her best to be competitive. Just a couple of days ago in Cincinnati, Williams upset Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 7-5 for her first top-20 win since 2019.
Williams showed exceptional fighting spirit against Kudermetova as in both sets she recovered from two breaks down to eventually win in straight sets. In the second set, Kudermetova had a 5-1 lead before Williams won the next six games to escape with a straight-set win.”I think at some point when you’re down a double break, you start to think, ‘Well, I at least want to just hold serve for the rest of this set.’
Simple thoughts like that. Then you get a little bit closer. You’re like, ‘Okay, maybe I just want to win another point.’ Definitely some big holes today that I usually don’t play from. But that’s tennis. That’s what’s so exciting,” Williams reflected.It remains to be seen if Williams can clinch another notable win in Cleveland and beat Andreeva.
