Mirra Andreeva wins sibling battle at Stuttgart Open as older sister Erika Andreeva retires injured

A unique clash opened the day at the Stuttgart Open as Mirra Andreeva faced off against Erika Andreeva and it was the younger sibling that prevailed albeit this was due to a retirement as the latter had to give up injured in the second set.

Erika Andreeva famously had the number of her younger high ranked sister last year in Wuhan as she quelled her charge. So this was an interesting tie for that regard on the clay this time.

But she had issues throughout as her right knee in particular was worked on during medical timeouts and she was heavily bandaged. She picked up a knee injury and couldn't really continue after that. Next up for Mirra Andreeva who was up 6-2, 1-0 at the time of the stoppage is Ekaterina Alexandrova.

She spoke afterwards and said that if it wasn't for Erika, she likely wouldn't be playing and that she owes her a lot as she is now a top 10 player and has won two WTA 1000 tournaments. But today was always going to be an uphill battle when she got injured in order to be competitive from there on in.

"We share the same room so I know what she's been going through. Honestly I have weird emotions. I should be happy but I'm super sad that it ended like this. But I'm sure that she's going to take her time and recover as strong as she can," said Andreeva post match.

"If she wouldn't have started playing tennis before me I don't think I would play that well this fast. She showed me the way. If she wouldn't be there I'm not sure I would be playing this tournament."

A successful start to the clay for Mirra Andreeva despite an unfortunate end against someone who of course means a lot to the 17-year-old.