DUBAI: Mirra Andreeva acts her age at times, like when she’s talking shop, but in the rectangle, sentineling the lines, she flaunts a steel that belies her years.
The 17-year-old, who on Saturday claimed the Dubai Duty-Free tennis championship with a 7-6 (1), 6-1 win over Clara Tauson, is the youngest winner of a WTA 1000 title. Andreeva, the only teenager in the top-100 of the rankings, was relentless in her attitude and approach even if her tennis at times was weary.
The Russian noted that confidence is easy to wear when things are going your way. “The ball is flying, you hit a lot of winners,” she said. “The hardest part is to be positive, to be there (in the moment) 100 per cent mentally, when things are not going your way.”
For much of her near two-hours on court against the in-form Tauson, the Russian tried but couldn’t produce the tennis that saw her put out three Grand Slam champions – Marketa Vondrousova, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina – in a week. “I told myself, you can either let that negativity come into your head or you can choose to fight for every point,” Andreeva said. “I’ve been listening to a lot of LeBron James interviews. He said it’s easy to be confident and to play good when everything goes your way. What makes you a champion is when you’re giving your best when you don’t feel great. That’s what I tried to do in the final.”
Andreeva’s goal for the 2025 season was to break into the top-10, now that she has debuted in the top tier at No.9 this week, the teenager promptly raised the bar.
“The higher your ranking is, the slower the climb (becomes) because the difference in the points is very little,” she said. “If I win another tournament, I’m going to be top-eight maybe. If I win another tournament, I can still be top eight. It’s going to be hard to enter the Top-five. That is the goal I’m going to set for myself, to be Top-five by the end of the year.”
When asked what she’d do with this week’s earnings of $597,000, Andreeva shrugged. She felt she had everything she needed.
“I don’t know what I want, I feel like I have everything. I won the tournament. I’ve already reached the goal that I had set for myself for the end of the year,” she said, adding, “My family is traveling with me. I have a great team. I feel happy, and this is all I need.”
A couple of minutes later she was asked if she likes to shop, Andreeva’s face mirrored a light bulb.
“Yes, of course I like shopping, it doesn’t matter what I buy, just as long as I buy something, I already feel good. It can be jewelry, a pair of jeans, socks, cap… As long as I buy something, I feel like the day is successful,” Andreeva said, noting that her father Alexander doesn’t like to shop. “I like to buy something, even something from the grocery store.”
It’s easy to forget Andreeva’s age when she’s on the tennis court, serving big and painting the lines with her groundstrokes. Just as well that she doesn’t hold back when she’s not aiming for the lines.