PARIS — Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva thumped veteran Sorana Cirstea 6-0, 6-3 at the French Open on Tuesday and set up a semifinal against an Ukrainian rival.Andreeva will take on the winner of the all-Ukrainian contest between Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk, who is undefeated on clay this season.When Kostyuk beat Andreeva in the Madrid final a month ago, she didn’t shake her hand at the net. That’s been the protocol for Ukrainian players with opponents from Russia and its ally Belarus since the war started.“Well, for me it doesn’t matter who I play,” Andreeva said when asked about the challenges of playing a Ukrainian player in the context of the four-year ongoing war between the neighboring countries.“I really try to play against the ball that is coming at me,” she added. “Usually it doesn’t matter to me who I’m playing against, so I’m trying to really focus on the game and on the game plan that I have to use on the court.”After a week of hot weather, rain arrived in Paris and play started under the closed roof of Court Philippe-Chatrier. Competing in the quarterfinals for the first time in 17 years, Cirstea struggled to find her rhythm against her 19-year-old rival.The 36-year-old veteran from Romania, playing the final season of her career, immediately dropped her serve. She was broken again in her next service game as the eighth-seeded Andreeva punished a weak delivery with a forehand return winner to open a 3-0 lead.The Russian was in …
