Final week, Erika Andreeva was in Roehampton, getting overwhelmed by Britain’s Sonay Kartal, who’s now world No 298, and knocked out No 29 seed Sorana Cirstea within the first spherical at SW19. Ordinarily, Andreeva would have been watching on.
Then, on Monday morning, the ping got here by means of: Aryna Sabalenka, world No 3, had withdrawn from Wimbledon on the eleventh hour with a irritating shoulder damage, solely painful when she was serving. Andreeva, the so-called fortunate loser, was again within the recreation.
The Russian 20-year-old, elder sister to rising star Mirra, confronted American Emina Bektas in Sabalenka’s stead, and took full benefit of her alternative, successful 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 to associate with the £60,000 connected to creating the primary spherical of Wimbledon.
She was the one fortunate loser within the girls’s draw to triumph, with Renata Zarazua dropping out towards Emma Raducanu, Elsa Jacquemot falling to Sloane Stephens, and Olga Danilovic dropping towards Anca Todoni. Erika will now tackle Donna Vekic of Croatia within the second spherical.
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Wimbledon recap day one: Coco Gauff joined by fortunate losers in girls’s draw, Tiafoe rises