Brisbane, Jan 3 Mirra Andreeva has booked her ticket into the semifinals of the Brisbane International after defeating her idol Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-4, 7-6 on Friday. The 17-year-old Russian is now 2-0 against former World No.2 Jabeur.
On the comeback from a season of form and injury struggles, the 30-year-old Jabeur impressed as she reeled off three successive wins for the first time since Roland Garros last year before Andreeva had her measure for the second time in as many meetings on Australian soil.
Last year, Andreeva toppled the then-No. 6 Tunisian in the second round of the Australian Open. The Russian awaits World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka or Czech's Marie Bouzkova for a place in Sunday’s final.
Andreeva has looked sharp in her first three outings in Brisbane and went into the quarterfinals with straight-set wins over Anna Blinkova and Linda Noskova. Her 6-3, 6-0 win over Noskova avenged a tough loss from 12 months ago, when Noskova beat her 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Earlier, local wildcard Kimberly Birrell's impressive run came to end in the quarterfinals after suffering a 6-4, 1-6, 5-7 loss to Anhelina Kalinina, who is bidding for her third WTA final.
Birrell, competing at her home base, had defeated only two top-50 opponents from 2021 to 2024 but had notched two wins this week against such players - World No.8 Emma Navarro and World No.35 Anastasia Potapova.
For two hours and 40 minutes, she showed grit and courage before she fell narrowly shy against the steely Ukrainian, a player who was ranked in the top 25 only 18 months ago.
Winless in Australia last season, the 27-year-old Kalinina was one point from defeat at 4-5 in the deciding set but rebounded to snatch the final three games for her sixth WTA semifinal and only her second on hard court.
Birrell was up to a career-high mark of World No.99 in the live rankings, while Kalinina moved on to a last-four clash with 21-year-old qualifier Polina Kudermetova, a 7-6(5) 6-3 winner over American Ashlyn Krueger.
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