Mirra Andreeva impresses in Wimbledon

Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva is breaking new ground at Wimbledon but has yet to pluck up the courage to engage in conversation with her tennis hero, Andy Murray. The starstruck Andreeva on Thursday became the third-youngest qualifier to reach the last 32 after Kim Clijsters in 1999 and Coco Gauff four years ago. It came in her first grass-court tournament. Having made the third round at the French Open last month, also out of qualifying, the youngster repeated her success when 10th-seeded Barbora Krejcikova retired with a foot injury. World number four Casper Ruud crashed out in the second round of Wimbledon on Thursday at the hands of British wildcard Liam Broady. Broady held his nerve when trailing two sets to one against the French Open finalist, rallying to win the Centre Court clash 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Norway’s Ruud, who has been runner-up at Roland Garros in the past two years, was also the beaten finalist at the US Open last year. Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a thrilling five-set Wimbledon battle against Dominic Thiem on Wednesday to book a blockbuster second-round clash against two-time champion Andy Murray. While Tsitsipas was pushed to the brink in a gruelling first-round tie lasting almost four hours, former world number one Murray is well rested after crushing Ryan Peniston in his tournament opener on Tuesday. Tsitsipas held his nerve in a final set tie-break to secure a 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (10/8) victory. “For a second I thought we were doing the repeat of Isner versus Mahut,” Tsitsipas said in reference to the longest match in history, played at Wimbledon in 2010.