Teenager Mila Andreeva suffered the heaviest loss of her Grand Slam career to sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur to qualify for the third round of the Australian Open.
The 16-year-old Russian was runner-up in the junior women's event at Melbourne Park last year, reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and broke into the world top 50.
Andreeva is on the rise from corner to corner on Wednesday when she shut out Jabour 6-0, 6-2 in just 54 minutes, setting up a three-round matchup with compatriot Kamila Rakimova or Frenchwoman Diane Parry. appeared to be a superstar.
It was Andreeva's first win against a player ranked within the top 10.
“I was really nervous before the game because I was really inspired by the way the game was going.” [Jabeur] I’ll play,” Andreeva said.
“Before I started playing on the WTA Tour, I always watched her matches, and now I got a chance to play against her. To be honest, I played great tennis in the first set. I wasn't expecting that.”
Andreeva's pre-match preparations included encounters with a koala and a snake during an animal interaction session at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
“I was the one who caught the snake, and I did it with my deputy,” she said. “He was very scared, but I forced him to do it.”
Despite being a regular in the top 10 in recent years, Jabour is still aiming for his first Grand Slam singles title.
The Tunisian has lost the last two Wimbledon finals and narrowly missed out to Iga Swientek in the 2022 US Open final.
The 29-year-old has never made it past the quarter-finals in seven visits to Melbourne Park, nor has she lost as badly as Andreeva in her 80-match Grand Slam career.
Another lesser-known Russian youngster, qualifier Mari Timofeeva, sparked a second boilover at Melbourne Park in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
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Timofeyeva, 20, overcame a slow start to defeat former world number one Caroline Wozniacki 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Wozniacki, a mother of two playing in her fifth tournament since her return, was lined up on the sideline with fellow former British Open champion and mother Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber.
Timofeeva's third-round opponent will be either fellow Russian qualifier Alina Korneeva or 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
“I'm really a little speechless,” Timofeeva said.
“It's an honor to play against Caroline here. I went into the match without any expectations, but I just wanted to show what I'm capable of.”
The match between Danish legends Wozniacki and Timofeeva under the John Cain Arena roof was postponed at 11am (AEDT) on Wednesday after the start of play on the outdoor court was postponed due to heavy rain in the evening and morning. It was the only game started in .
Play on the other show courts began at noon.
