Mirra Andreeva, Who Is She?
Mirra Aleksandrovna Andreeva is a 17-year old right-handed tennis player, born on April 29 2007, in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Standing at 5'9" (1.75m), she currently holds her career-high ranking of 30th in the live rankings after her quarterfinal victory earlier today against Aryna Sabalenka.
Mirra has an older sister, Erika Andreeva, who is also a professional tennis player. Introduced to tennis at a young age by their mother, the Andreeva sisters quickly moved to Moscow to pursue further development. Since 2022, they have been training at the Elite Tennis Center in Cannes, where several professional players, including Daniil Medvedev, Anna Blinkova, Varvara Gracheva, and Alexandre Muller, have trained.
The Beginning of Her Career
Andreeva made her WTA debut in 2022 at the age of 15 after receiving a wildcard for the Jasmin Open in Monastir, Tunisia. She lost in three sets to Anastasia Potapova. She then finished the year on the ITF circuit before receiving a wildcard for the Madrid Open in 2023.
The young Russian had an incredible run in Spain, showcasing her potential by defeating Leylah Fernandez, Beatriz Haddad Maia, and Magda Linette. Her journey ended in the fourth round against Aryna Sabalenka. A few weeks later, she qualified for her first main draw at Roland-Garros, where she lost in the third round in three sets to American Coco Gauff.
Controversy at Wimbledon
After once again making it through the qualifications at Wimbledon, Mirra Andreeva advanced to the fourth round, eliminating two seeded players along the way: Barbora Krejcikova and Anastasia Potapova. She then engaged in a tightly contested match against Madison Keys, which stretched to three sets.
While serving at 2-5 in the third set, Andreeva lost her footing on the baseline and threw her racket to the ground. As this was her second such offense in the match, she was penalized a point, which gave Madison Keys a match point that she converted immediately. After the match, the young Russian refused to shake hands with the chair umpire in protest of the decision to penalize her.
"For me, it's a controversial point. It's the umpire. She makes the decision. But honestly, I didn't intend to throw the racket, I slipped."
We leave it to you to judge for yourself from the following footage:
The Youngest Grand Slam Semifinalist Since Martina Hingis in 1997
In addition to defeating the second-best player on the circuit to qualify for the semifinals of Roland-Garros, Mirra Andreeva has become the youngest player to reach this stage of a Grand Slam since Martina Hingis in 1997.
Hingis had become the youngest Grand Slam champion in history the previous year by winning the doubles title at Wimbledon at 15 years and 9 months. In 1997, she achieved the feat in singles (and doubles) at the first Grand Slam of the season in Australia, at the age of 16 years and 3 months.
The Swiss player also won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open that year, finishing the season as the world number one. The only Grand Slam title that eluded her? Roland-Garros, where she lost in the final to Iva Majoli.
Will Mirra Andreeva follow in Martina Hingis's footsteps? It is obviously too early to say, but she definitely possesses the qualities to perform on the women's circuit for many years to come.
As a bonus, here is the full final between Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce at the 1997 Australian Open:
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