London, July 3: The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva defeated Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in straight sets to advance to the third round of women's singles at Wimbledon 2025 at the All-England Club here on Thursday.

No. 7 seed Andreeva, who became the youngest player ever to capture a WTA 1000 title when she triumphed in Dubai and followed it up with another one in Indian Wells to storm into the Top 10, defeated Bronzetti 6-1, 7-6 (4) in a second-round encounter.

She will next play the winner of the match between Hailey Baptiste and lucky loser Victoria Mboko.

Andreeva has already won 34 matches this year -- only Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Jessica Pegula have more. Bronzetti, ranked No. 63, was the 12th player outside the Top 50 that Andreeva has beaten this year. Her only such loss was to Lois Boisson in the Roland Garros quarterfinals.

Andreeva served well, winning 46 of 63 points, but perhaps more importantly, she took 19 of Bronzetti’s 30 second-serve points. Andreeva’s forehand slice, it should be mentioned. It was a constant bother to Bronzetti, who has now lost all 10 career matches to Top 10 players.

Earlier, last year's finalist, Jasmine Paolini, became the latest victim of an upset at Wimbledon as she exited in the second round of the competition, losing to Kamilla Rakhimova in three sets on Thursday.

The fourth-seeded Italian was set up against Rakhimova in the second round, but couldn't close the door in what was eventually a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat.

Runner-up to Barbora Krejcikova last year, Paolini is the fourth Top 5 seed to lose in the first two rounds at the All England Club this week. No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen all lost in the first round on Tuesday -- and No. 9 seed Paula Badosa was bundled out by Katie Boulter on Monday.

This is the first time since 2018 that four of the Top 5 seeds were eliminated from Wimbledon before the third round. Just like this year, out of the Top 5 seeds, only the No. 1 seed (Simona Halep) survived the second round at the 2018 Wimbledon.

--IANS

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