Mirra Andreeva has been the breakout star on this year’s WTA Tour, winning back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments to catapult herself into the upper echelons of the women’s game.
2025 WTA Tour
WTA 500
Bad Homburg Open
TC Bad Homburg, Bad Homburg, Germany (Outdoor Grass-court)
Selected Round of 16 Matches- 25th June
Mirra Andreeva (3) 0.38 vs Clara Tauson 1.95
The Russian teenager has always looked defensively competent but has added a new dimension to her game, shoring up her serve and looking to be more aggressive when she can. She is 31-9 for the year but will look to bounce back after a disappointing first-round defeat in Berlin (she was ignominiously bageled by Frech in the decisive 3rd set). Andreeva doesn’t have that much experience on grass and these shorter grass-court seasons aren’t conducive to honing your grass-court skill. Still, she did reach the Wimbledon 4th round as a 116-year-old back in 2023, prompting quick comparisons with reigning French Open champ Coco Gauff.
22-year-old Dane Clara Tauson got her grass-court campaign off to an encouraging start with a quarterfinal run in Nottingham. She had to dig deep in her Bad Homburg opener, coming back from a set down against the dangerous Magdalena Frech. Tauson served well in the match, winning an impressive 77% of her first-serve points. Tauson is a strong baseliner who hits it cleanly off both wings (especially that forehand side). Her movement can let her down and she has very little noticeable grass-court expertise to speak of. But this has been a monumental season for the Dane, as she captured her 3rd title in Auckland before reaching a maiden WTA 1000 final in Dubai (going down to a certain Russian teenager in the championship match).
The Verdict: Tauson to win in three at 5.6- Andreeva leads the head-to-head 3-0, winning all three of their matches this season- Tauson must be sick of the sight of Andreeva. Tauson will take some confidence from their most recent meeting in Rome: she forced the Russian to come back from a set down to triumph. Tauson stands a chance of picking up her first win in this rivalry. Tauson has now played four matches on grass, winning three of those clashes. Andreeva looked shattered in Berlin and has very little grass-court tennis under her belt. I think that Tauson’s controlled aggression may help her edge the durable Andreeva.
