Andreeva loses Wimbledon tuneup in Bad Homburg, her first match since French Open title win

BAD HOMBURG, Germany (AP) — Mirra Andreeva lost in her first match since winning the French Open, beaten in her only grass-court tuneup before Wimbledon by Ekaterina Alexandrova on Wednesday.

The two Russian players hugged at the net after Alexandrova overcame Andreeva and the heat wave baking Europe to win 6-3, 6-4 for a place in the quarterfinals of the Bad Homburg Open.

In the second set, the 19-year-old French Open champion pulled off a table tennis-style trick shot which had so much backspin it landed on Alexandrova’s side of the court before bouncing back over the net to win Andreeva the point.

Alexandrova next faces Naomi Osaka at Bad Homburg.

Top-seeded Iga Swiatek also lost Wednesday, struggling with her serve in a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 defeat to Emma Navarro. Swiatek had six double faults in the first set alone. The runner-up in Nottingham last week, Navarro improved to a 6-2 record on grass this season and will play Elena Gabriela Ruse in the quarterfinals.

The top three seeded players at the tournament are all out. French Open quarterfinalist Elina Svitolina, seeded third, withdrew Wednesday ahead of the quarterfinals, citing fitness issues after her second-round win over Liudmila Samsonova.

“It took a little bit more than expected out of my body, so therefore I need a few more days to recover,” she said in a video statement.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis