Mirra Andreeva couldn’t hide her disappointment after losing an epic match against Amanda Anisimova in the quarter-final of the Dubai championships. The match went to a tie-breaker in the third and deciding set, with Anisimova coming out on top. It came after Andreeva won the first set 6-2, with Anisimova winning the second 5-7.
After the tie-breaker and post-match handshakes, the defending champion made her way back to her seat and was visibly upset. She held her towel to her face and appeared to cry into it. She then got up to start to pack her things away, ready to make her way off the court.
She still appeared to be emotional as she did so. Speaking after the match, Anismova showed her class and spoke of how hard it was to see her opponent’s reaction.
“I was almost in tears there at the end. It was such a tough battle, I thought we played incredible tennis,” she said.
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“Seeing Mirra down like that, it’s understandable. We both fought so hard today. “It made me emotional seeing her like that. She was playing so well.
“She’s the defending champion. I feel like we both won on the court today.”
She will go on to play fellow American Jessica Pegula in the semi-final of the tournament. The match will take place at 1:10pm on Friday.
The winner will play one of Coco Gauff or Alexandra Eala, or Antonia Ruzic or Elina Svitoline in the final, with the two other quarter-finals yet to be completed.
Andreena has had a disappointing time since winning the Adelaide International back in January. She fell out of the Australian Open at the fourth round, losing to Elina Svitolina, before exiting the Qatar Open at the round of 16 stage.