Paris: Mirra Andreeva’s morning alarm may have gone off at 6.40 am, but it wasn’t until she was almost half-way through the first set of her French Open opening-round clash against Spain’s Cristina Bucsa that she responded to that shrill ringing. The 18-year-old, who listed the details of her morning schedule to Alex Corretja, the former world No. 2 turned courtside interviewer, also put down the time she had allotted for each task. It included 35 minutes to pack her bag and get ready, 25 minutes for breakfast and 11 minutes in the locker room, before she got 30-40 minutes on the court with a hitting partner. She didn’t particularly enjoy 11 am starts, Andreeva, the world No.6, later told Russian media.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Andreeva, bright-eyed and irreverent, who won six of the final seven games of the first set to clinch a 6-4, 6-3 win in 82 minutes, plays 21-year-old American Ashlyn Krueger in the second round on Thursday. It wasn’t the best of days for Andreeva’s compatriot Daniil Medvedev, who like the teenager too doesn’t like early morning starts. Medvedev, 29, a former No.1, seeded 11 at Roland Garros this year, led 5-3 in the fifth set and was within three points of the match, but saw Briton Cameron Norrie claim four successive games and a 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5 win on Court Simonne-Mathieu.
On a day when the skies threatened and the mistral was playing to a particularly harsh note for a spring day in May, spectators layered up and players looked to control their game in conditions that called for patience and perseverance. It was not about playing to a plan, rather about the fight to pursue an end. Andreeva, who walked out onto the Court Suzanne Lenglen in a tea-length skirt, which she wore over her match gear, took her time striking rhythm. The world No. 6, who won two WTA 1000 titles this year in Dubai and Indian Wells before she blew out 18 candles on her birthday cake a month ago, wouldn’t classify herself as a player who is particularly sensitive to conditions, testing or otherwise. “I don’t really feel the difference. If it’s cold, I suffer a little bit more to warm up and be ready to run for every point. I don’t feel the difference when either it’s hot or it’s cold,” she said, adding, “Conchita (Martinez, her coach) tells me sometimes, ‘Now it’s cold, so you have to do this, you have to do that.’ I’m like, ‘Well, okay, it’s cold. I don’t really feel the difference.’” World No. 2 Coco Gauff, who walked on court with her kit bag sans her rackets, which were later ferried from the locker room after she rummaged through the bag, however, produced forceful tennis for a 6-2, 6-2 win over Aussie Olivia Gadecki. The 21-year-old American’s outfit scored with her play on a day when the double-fault count totalled to 13 (seven Gauff and six Gadecki). Gauff’s dress in muted greyish-blue tones matched the sky on the day, fitted bodice that flowed into a pleated hem that fluttered with the wind. Gauff paired the dress with a black leather jacket which was the mood of the day. “I knew the kit that I was wearing because we try it on. They gave me the leather jacket this week and I was like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s fire!’” she said. “I talked to them (New Balance) about how I always wanted to spice up my walk-on outfits. I was pleasantly surprised with it. I think it’s cool. I feel like it matches the Parisian vibe here, and it just makes me feel super powerful going onto the court.”
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