'Tell us about yourself' was the first question asked of Russian Oksana Selekhmeteva immediately after she upset top seed Emma Navarro of USA 6-4 4-6 6-4 in the US Open girls’ second round on Tuesday.

A bubbly teen, who speaks far better English than she credits herself for, didn’t miss a beat as she offered a geography tour of her life.

“I’m Oksana Selekhmeteva, I’m 16 years old, and I’m from Russia,” she said. “I’m practicing in Barcelona and I’m living in Moscow, but I’m from a small city in Russia, Kamenka, and it’s like such a small city.”

Indeed, when asked what Kamenka is known for - “Has anything important ever happened there? Is anyone famous besides for Oksana Selekhmeteva from Kamenka? - she laughed.

Although Moscow is now technically home for the family, she relocated in 2016 to Spain where she trains at the 4Slam Tennis Academy owned by three former Spanish tour players of which Galo Blanco is the most notable.

She is certainly not the only Russian in residence at 4Slam as Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Svetlana Kuznetsova often consider the place home base as well.

Selekhmeteva usually has a family member with her, even in Barcelona, but at this US Open she is just with her coach, Gabriel Trujillo Soler. None of her family were able to secure a travel visa to the United States. As a student living in Spain, Selekhmeteva did not face a similar problem.

“Barcelona is very beautiful and the people are so calm it seems like they don’t care, maybe,” Selekhmeteva said. “In Moscow there’s too much people. When I was training in Moscow the place to practice from my house was an hour-and-a-half away.”

When in Barcelona, Selekhmeteva frequents the beach, which is only a 5-minute walk from where she lives. Her favorite hobbies away from tennis are reading and watching movies.

“I love to read detective stories and [watch] the movies like Sherlock Holmes,” she said. “I like it so much. I like how they think.” But, of course, as a Russian high schooler - she is learning via an online program - she’s read her share of classics such as Dostoevsky.

When Selekhmeteva first arrived in Barcelona she admits her English was iffy, which made it sometimes comically hard to understand the direction of the coaches.

“I spoke so bad that they were like, ‘Oksana, bend your knee,’ and I was bending my elbow,” she said, laughing. “It was so stupid but I’m still learning.”

Selekhmeteva counts being a lefty as one of her most valued weapons, and one which makes her serve out wide a valuable asset. Surprisingly, her favorite shot is the slice, which people have commented about back to when she still recorded her age in single digits: “They were like, ’Oh my God, nine years old and slices already.”

The match against Navarro was a good test of Selekhmeteva’s nerves. She raced to a 5-0 lead in the final set, but watched as Navarro ticked off four straight games before she could set things right again. The Russian ended Navarro’s comeback attempt by breaking serve in the final game.

“I’m really excited with my win today,” she said. “To close the match, every time is tough. I told myself, ‘Okay, Oksana, just try to calm down and let’s try to do your best.”

While she’s obviously hoping to still be competing at the US Open through the weekend, Selekhmeteva is already looking forward to the end of the month when she plays for the second consecutive year on the Russian Junior Fed Cup team. This year the junior team event is taking place at the USTA National Tennis campus in Lake Nona, Florida.

“We were in the semis and we lost against Ukraine, but it was good experience for us,” she said, of her first Junior Fed Cup experience. “There’s a lot of teams, girls and boys, and we’re all talking. The matches are really good and the atmosphere is very good because the team is always supporting you.”

It wasn't the only upset of the day in th girls' draw. American qualifier Alexandra Yepifanova upset No. 9 Sada Nahimana of Burundi 6-2 6-4 in first-round action on Tuesday.

Three seeded boys fell in second-round matches: Dominic Stephan Stricker of Switzerland upset reigning Roland Garros champion and second seed Holger Vitus Rune of Denmark 6-4 7-5; Rinky Hijikata of Australia upset third seed Martin Damm of USA 6-4 6-4; and American Cannon Kingsley advanced when fifth seed Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina retired when trailing 7-6(6) 2-0.

Other girls’ advancing were No.3 Alexa Noel courtesy of a 7-6(1) 3-6 7-5 win over Aubane Droguet of France, and No.4 Maria Camila Osorio Serrano of Colombia defeated Diana Shnaider of Russia 6-4 6-2.

In boys’ matches, No. 6 Toby Kodat of USA defeated Olimjon Nabiev of Uzbekistan 6-3 6-1, and No. 8 Emilio Nava of USA outlasted Matteo Arnaldi of Italy 6-7(4) 7-5 7-5.