Mirra Andreeva returned to the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open for the second straight year, coming from a set and a break down to defeat No.29 seed Linda Noskova 4-3, 6-3, 6-3.

The result was the second match in a row that Andreeva had won from a set down following her first-round defeat of Taylor Townsend. It also marked her first win in a nascent rivalry between two of the most promising teenagers on the Hologic WTA Tour.

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Noskova, 19, had defeated Andreeva, 16, in their first pro meeting in the Adelaide quarterfinals this January 7-5, 6-3. But returning to a tournament she has described as her "place of power", Andreeva gained her revenge in 1 hour and 52 minutes.

This time last year, Andreeva's run to the last 16 in Madrid was the springboard for a phenomenal breakthrough season that saw her named WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2023. She is just one match away from repeating that showing, and will face either Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova or Shelby Rogers next.

How the match was won: For just over a set, Noskova picked up where she had left off in Adelaide. In that match, she had kept Andreeva at bay by blending raw power and judicious use of the drop shot, and both those weapons were on show again in Madrid.

The Czech player took advantage of Andreeva's defensive court positioning to repeatedly foil her with drop shots, and slammed well-timed return winners en route to breaking for 1-0 in the second set.

But Andreeva was able to adjust and clean up her game, particularly the slew of forehand errors that had beset her in the opener. Meanwhile, Noskova's intensity dipped, particularly on serve, as she failed to press home her advantage. One of seven double faults beckoned Andreeva back into the match in the second game of the second set, and thereafter it was the younger player in control.

Spreading the court with her backhand and increasing her first serve percentage with each set, Andreeva dominated most of the second and third sets. Noskova found a brief flash of her best form in both, breaking Andreeva as she served for the second set for the first time and then to level the decider from 3-1 down at 3-3. But she was unable to sustain that form, and a flurry of forehand errors from her racquet sealed the win for Andreeva.