Mirra Andreeva is becoming one of the stories of Wimbledon after the 16-year-old Russian qualifier advanced to the fourth round on her debut at the Championships,
Having made her grand slam breakthrough on clay at the French Open with a run to the third round earlier this season, Andreeva has gone one step further and is winning fans at the All England Club.
Incredibly, Andreeva had not played a professional match on grass before she arrived at Wimbledon qualifying last week, but won three matches in a row to reach the main draw.
A super-fan of Andy Murray, Andreeva will attempt to take inspiration from her hero when she tries to reach the quarter-finals against Madison Keys on Monday.
Who is Mirra Andreeva?
Roger Federer had already won four Wimbledon titles by the time Andreeva was born in April 2007 – and unsurprisingly the 16-year-old is the youngest player left in the Wimbledon main draw.
Andreeva has an older sister who is also a professional tennis player, Erika Andreeva, and she says she was introduced to the sport by her mother from a very early age
“Actually, I didn’t pick this sport. My mom did,” Andreeva told the WTA earlier this season. “I’m really happy that my mom picked this sport because I feel that I really belong to this sport.”
Mirra Andreeva is through to the last 16
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After turning professional this year, Andreeva made her breakthrough on clay on the Madrid Open, reaching the third round.
Upon arriving at her first grand slam at Roland Garros, Andreeva won three matches in qualifying to reach the main draw. She was knocked out by in three sets by Coco Gauff, who reached the Wimbledon fourth round as a 15-year-old in 2019.
Andreeva, who has risen from outside of the top 300 in the past two months and is set to now break into the top 100, showed her confidence by declaring her dream in tennis was to “win 25 grand slam titles” after being inspired by Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of the men’s record.
Why is she such a fan of Andy Murray?
During her breakthrough at the Madrid Open, Andreeva said she was star-struck when she saw Andy Murray in the player’s restaurant.
“When you sit here and take in all the stars, like Andy Murray, you see his face,” Andreeva said. “He is so beautiful in life. Sorry, he is so amazing.”
Andreeva congratulated Murray after he won a Challenger title in France ahead of Roland Garros, with the two-time Wimbledon champion responding to the text.
“He actually answered me, so I was really happy about it,” Andreeva said. “He said, ‘Thank you, and good luck in Roland Garros.”
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It certainly worked as Andreeva reached the third round, and the teenager said Murray was her “good luck charm”.
However upon arriving at Wimbledon, Andreeva said she was “too shy” to talk to her hero.
“I met Andy Murray here,” Andreeva revealed. “But I’m too shy 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.”
What has Andreeva done at Wimbledon?
In the third round on Sunday, Andreeva was clearly emotional as she triumphed against compatriot Anastasia Potapova 6-2 7-5 in an all-Russian contest on Court Three, with the teenager proving a crowd favourite with the Wimbledon fans.
It followed wins over Xiyu Wang in the first round and former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in round two, with the 10th seed retiring from the match injured when Andreeva led 6-3 4-0.
Andreeva has impressed with her fearless, attacking play and powerful forehand, but the 16-year-old also wears her heart on her sleeve and is an emotional player on the court.
Andreeva is being followed by Netflix at Wimbledon
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As she attempted to close out victory against Potapova, Andreeva slapped her thigh upon losing a crucial point, but regained her composure to break the 22nd seed and serve out the biggest win of her career so far.
“I always want to win, doesn’t matter which tournament, which round. I always go to win,” Andreeva said. “I will just do my best. If I can advance to the round of 16, I will be super happy. If I can advance to the semifinal, I will be of course super happy. I will just try to do my best, then we will see what will I do. But honestly I don’t have any goals. I just play.”
At Wimbledon, Andreeva is also being followed by the Netflix cameras ahead of the second season of the documentary show Break Point.
Andreeva would not have been allowed to play at Wimbledon last year due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players from competing at the Championships following the invasion of Ukraine.
