Russian wonderkid, 16, continues rapid rise as Wimbledon rival throws in towel

Mirra Andreeva advanced to the third round of Wimbledon after 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova retired while trailing 6-3 4-0. The 16-year-old was on her way to the biggest win of her career by ranking when the Czech star forfeited the match. Andreeva is making her debut at the All England Club after coming through qualifying.

Andreeva has cemented herself as one of tennis’ biggest young prospects after an impressive clay season. Before turning 16 she made her WTA 1000 debut as a wildcard in Madrid and stormed into the round-of-16, upsetting two top 20 players en route.

Her run continued at the French Open where she qualified to make her Grand Slam debut and reached the third round before falling to Coco Gauff. And Andreeva has done it again at Wimbledon as the 10th seed retired after trailing by a set and a double break.

The world No 102 is into the third round of a Major once again and will now face either 22nd seed Anastasia Potapova or fellow qualifier Kaja Juvan. She stormed through the first set against Krejcikova, with the 27-year-old taking a medical time-out after going 6-3 down.

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Andreeva was en route to the biggest victory of her career – with Krejcikova sitting at No 11 in the world – as she took a commanding double-break lead in the second set. As the teenager grabbed her towel at the end of the game she was taken by surprise when the umpire announced that her opponent was retiring.

It means that the world No 102 has made back-to-back third rounds at Grand Slams – coming through qualifying at both. After her run at the French Open, many believed she deserved a wildcard into Wimbledon but she was snubbed from the list when the wildcards were announced.

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Speaking at the French Open last month, Andreeva revealed that Wimbledon would be her first professional tournament on the grass. “I didn’t play on grass yet. It will be my first time. It can be my first time. I’m excited about it, because I have never tried it. So if I can go there, we will see what I can do,” she said.

At the time, the 16-year-old also didn’t know whether she would be given a visa to enter the country. But she managed to make it to the UK for qualifying and has since stormed through the draw in her grass-court debut – dropping just two sets across five matches.

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