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This piece has been updated to reflect Mirra Andreeva’s third round win against Anastasia Potapova, the No 22 seed at Wimbledon.
Six months ago Mirra Andreeva lost in the final of the Australian Open juniors to her best friend and doubles partner Alina Korneeva.
She says she cried for over a week after that defeat, in a match which lasted a mammoth three hours and 18 minutes.
Since then she has risen more than 200 places in the world rankings, thanks to title wins in 60k events in Switzerland, a superb run at the Madrid Masters and reaching the third round of the French Open. The 16-year-old Russian has now reached the fourth round at Wimbledon.
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There is a buzz wherever she goes. After winning her first round match late on Wednesday she was being stopped outside Centre Court for selfies and autographs and it was a similar sight after she swept past the No 10 seed Barbora Krejcikova on Thursday. Her third round match against her compatriot Anastasia Potapova, the world No 23, was on No 3 Court and again she put on a show and won over the crowd.
"I was out of breath almost every point"
Mirra Andreeva didn't have the energy to show emotion on court 😂#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/ZjgoAGBhIT
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2023
She is into the second week of a grand slam and keen for a run-out on Centre Court. She went in there on her first day and took 15 pictures on her phone and you get the impression it won’t be long before the schedulers grant Andreeva her wish. Next up for the teenager is Madison Keys, the No 25 seed from the United States.
A month ago, she had never even played on grass. Absent a year ago because of the ban on players from Russia and Belarus, Andreeva arrived a week before qualifying began this summer to practice on the nearby courts at Raynes Park. That was arranged by the coach of the 14-year-old British talent Hannah Klugman.
“On the first practice, I fell three times,” Andreeva said during qualifying. “It’s pretty tough for me to get used to the grass — the moving is different, the ball bounces differently, the grass is slippery. I feel a bit slow, but I think it’s OK. I try to do small steps and I still feel dangerous on court. As we can see, it goes pretty well for now.”
The same is true in the main draw. After beating Wang Xiyu, of China, in the first round, she was in complete control in the second against Krejcikova, leading 6-3, 4-0 before her opponent had to retire with a foot injury. In her latest match against Potapova, she raced through the first set 6-2, before having to battle hard to win the second from 4-1 down. Potapova then saved seven break points with the score at 4-4 in the second, before Andreeva broke serve at 5-5 and then served out the match.
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She has been dominant on her serve so far at Wimbledon, winning 27 of her 31 service games and saving 15 of 19 break points.
Which leads us on to Netflix. They’ve been filming Andreeva for their tennis documentary, Break Point, ever since her impressive run in Paris. Not that Andreeva is at all fazed by the cameras.
“They just follow me and they’re all super nice people,” she said after her second-round win. “If I don’t want to film something on a day, they’re cool with it. For example, yesterday (Tuesday) I was feeling super nervous (before her win against Xiyu). In the warm-up, I felt a little bit uncomfortable, a little bit stressed, so we told them that maybe it’s not a good time for this. They were cool with it. They just left. They gave me some space.
“Before I was feeling not so comfortable, but now I kind of like it.”
Her rise has been remarkable since shining in Madrid in May while still only 15. Receiving a wildcard off the back of her titles in Switzerland, she beat the 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and the tournament’s 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia. Then she won against another top-20 player Magda Linette. On her 16th birthday, that was her 16th win of 2023, to reach the Madrid last-16.
It’s all been very neat and tidy so far, and you can say the same about her game. She serves well, is strong off either side — there were some fantastic backhand and forehand winners against Krejcikova and Potapova — and she is happy striking the ball from deep in the court. In that respect, she’s been compared with her compatriot, the men’s world No 3, Daniil Medvedev.
(Photo: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
When asked to describe her game earlier this year, she said: “You don’t have to play fast because I’m pretty good at keeping the fast rhythm and I can compare my game to maybe Ons Jabeur — because I change the rhythm a lot, I play with topspin,” she said. “I do drop shots a lot also and I change the rhythm.”
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She and her older sister Erika, a fellow top 200 player, started playing at home in Siberia, before moving to Sochi to get proper training. From there, the Andreeva sisters moved to Cannes, in the south of France, to be coached by Jean-Rene Lisnard and Jean-Christophe Faurel. Medvedev had practised in Cannes too, and that was clearly a draw for the sisters, who chose between Cannes and the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain.
Mirra has said in the past that she and Erika, who is 19 and ranked 149th in the world, deliberately avoid talking about tennis off court, and they have not played a set against each other for four years. Both extremely competitive, instead they play card games like Uno, and table tennis.
When asked what has changed on and off the court since that Australian Open juniors defeat in January, she has made a conscious decision to take the pressure off herself.
“I realised that, actually, tennis is a hard sport but also if you look at it, you just play. It’s just a game. I think now I’m trying to take it as a game, and maybe that’s why. I’m just trying to play. I’m just trying to enjoy it. I’m just trying to win as many points as I can. I’m just trying to run to every ball, and to put as many balls on the court as I can.”
(Photo: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
Andreeva has her feet on the ground but her talent is obvious, and she is winning more fans by the day at the “super beautiful, super traditional” Wimbledon. She has a budding friendship with the two-time champion and home favourite Andy Murray too, although so far this has been conducted via interviews about one another and messages on social media.
After seeing him in Madrid she told Tennis Channel: “When you’re here and take a lunch with all these stars; you see Andy Murray, you see his face and he’s so beautiful in life, he is so amazing.”
His response? “Imagine how good she’s going to be when she gets her eyes fixed.”
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Murray has sent messages of encouragement since, but Andreeva says she’s still too scared to talk to him. “When I see him, I try to leave the facility super quick just to not to talk to him because I’m super shy.”
Six wins from six when it comes to matches on grass, she is growing in confidence with every round.
Next, she might even pluck up the courage to talk to Murray.
(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Senior Editor for The Athletic UK. Follow Charlie on Twitter @charliefscott
