Andreeva flawless to open her Indian Wells title defense
The only thing that slowed Mirra Andreeva on Saturday in Indian Wells was a pre-match delay caused by a broken net on Stadium 2.
Once a new net was installed, Andreeva spent the rest of the evening avoiding it, as she bageled Solana Sierra in under 30 minutes in the opening set and completed a flawless 6-0, 6-0 win in 50 minutes to open her title defense and reach the third round.
Indian Wells: Scores | Draws | Order of play
The victory also marked her 100th main-draw win at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level, making her the youngest player (18 years, 309 days at the start of the tournament) to reach the milestone since Coco Gauff at the 2023 Australian Open.
“I always see posts on Instagram, and you know, people just post, ‘Oh, Novak (Djokovic) got his 500th win on tour,’” Andreeva said in her on-court interview. “I’m like, I wonder when I’m going to get at least to 50 and now you’re telling me that (this is) my 100th win. So yeah, it’s amazing, super special to hear, and I hope I’m not going to stop here and I’m gonna keep going.”
It’s her second straight third round appearance at the BNP Paribas Open and she now owns a 1-0 record against Sierra after their first meeting at the WTA Tour level. As far as bragging rights go, Andreeva should have plenty ahead of any future meetings: she was rock-solid in every phase of this one, while Sierra never found her best level.
For reference, here’s a quick stat comparison:
| Category | Andreeva | Sierra |
| First serves won | 68% | 19% |
| Second serves won | 81% | 38% |
| Unforced errors | 10 | 27 |
| Break points won | 6/9 | 0/4 |
| Total points won | 54 | 21 |
All four of Sierra’s break-point chances came while trailing 4-0 in the opening set, but Andreeva rattled off four straight points before holding for 5-0. Then, already up 2-0 in the second set, Andreeva went on another run -- this time of 10 straight points -- to set up a hold for 5-0, which she sealed with a trademark backhand winner.
Moments later, she broke Sierra for the sixth and final time to close out the win and become the first player to record a 6-0 6-0 victory in women’s singles at Indian Wells since Victoria Azarenka defeated Magdalena Rybarikova in 2016. She is also the first player to win 6-0 6-0 in a WTA-level main-draw match this season.
She is set to face Katerina Siniakova in the third round after the former doubles World No. 1 defeated No. 27 seed Leylah Fernandez in a 3-hour, 28-minute thriller to advance late Saturday night. It will be the first meeting between the two.