The Russian woman had to take on the Ukrainian – Saiki’s husband as her opponent

The Russian Mirra Andreeva had to play against a local male player. PDO

A Russian player found in position 57 on the world tennis list Mirra Andreeva16, had to play against a man at the Negometal Open de Bourg-de-Peage practice tournament in France.

Andreeva advanced to Sunday’s final, where she should have faced world No. 33. Marta Kostyuk. However, the Ukrainian tennis star refused to play with the Russian and left the tournament just hours before the start of the final.

The match was wanted to be played despite the twist that came in the last moments. A female tennis player suitable for Andreeva could not be found, so a French man settled on the other side of the net Yanis Ghazouani Durand. The 23-year-old is ranked 1146 in the men’s world rankings.

The teenage star Andreeva started the final cheerfully and was able to break Durand’s pass at the very beginning. The French later got his game rolling and narrowly took the opening set 7–5.

Durand took the latter set with a larger margin of 6–2 and won the special final 2–0. The Russian Andreeva still received the championship trophy at the end of the match.

– This is the first time I hold the trophy after a defeat. I hope this will be the last time, Andreeva joked at the award ceremony Sportskeedan by.

“I made pancakes”

Durand, who won the game, said that he received the invitation to the final just two hours before the start of the match. He had sparred with Andreeva before that for the final, so the opponent was somewhat familiar.

– I was a volunteer at the tournament and made pancakes. I thought it was a joke at first, but after seeing the faces of the others, I realized it was true, Durand said.

The Frenchman could not foresee how tough the 16-year-old Andreeva, who was chosen as the rookie of the year in the WTA, would take the final.

– The difference between female and male players is big, but it was difficult to beat Andreeva, who played very well.