Australian Open: Magical Mirra Andreeva sees off her idol Ons Jabeur in a show of confidence and humility

They say never meet your idols but, for Mirra Andreeva, a first encounter with Ons Jabeur could hardly have gone better.

The No6 seed was obliterated in one of the most one-sided matches of this year’s Australian Open, beaten 6-0, 6-2 by the 16-year-old Russian, who looks set to be the next superstar of the sport.

Andreeva emerged on the tour last season, revealing an infatuation with the smile of Andy Murray and the tennis of Jabeur.

Her stated desire after a first Grand Slam singles win at last year’s French Open was simply to have a practice session against the Tunisian. Today, she got much more.

Her 29-year-old opponent, a beaten finalist at the last two Wimbledon Championships, never got into her rhythm and took seven games before she finally got a score on the board. That merely acted as a temporary reprieve, as her teenage opponent delighted the crowd on Rod Laver Arena.

To highlight her meteoric rise, a year ago Andreeva was in Melbourne playing and losing in the final of the junior girls’ singles.

After today’s match, Andreeva revealed that Jabeur had been gracious enough to congratulate her and wish her luck for the rest of the tournament. The youngster admitted that only made her like her idol more.

“I just know that she is who she is and she never changed,” she said. “That’s what I like about her. I’m happy I played with Ons. It was one of my dreams to play against her, because I really like the way she plays. As I said before, I’m inspired by her, so it means a lot that I won.

“Probably it was the best match of my career. The first set, I didn’t expect that I would play this good. Second set was also not bad. For me, it was an amazing match. I’m super-happy with the level I showed today.”

The result felt like a stepping stone for Andreeva, her dismantling of Jabeur in 54 minutes leading to her first-ever win against a top-10 player. On the evidence of Melbourne to date, there ought to be many more.

While she served well, was the greater aggressor and was undeterred by the gulf in experience between the pair, she was also aided by an out-of-sorts Jabeur.

The fact that the Tunisian managed to win just eight points in the opening set will be a concern for both the player, who also lost in the second round of the Australian Open 12 months ago, and her wider team going into the rest of 2024.

It proved a strong day for Russian youngsters, as Maria Timofeeva knocked out former champion Caroline Wozniacki 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Wozniacki, in the early days of her return after the birth of her two children, found her form ebbing and flowing throughout the match.

Timofeeva, a deserving winner, said: “I was going into the match without any expectations, just to show what I’m capable of.

“I enjoyed every second of it. I’m really a bit speechless. It’s an honour to play here against Caroline.”

Coco Gauff, one of the favourites for overall victory here, avoided another upset with a 7-6, 6-2 victory in an all-American encounter with Caroline Dolehide and there was a comfortable victory for defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, who saw off Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-1, 6-2 to make her way into the third round.