Mirra Andreeva says she is embracing her surge in success as she continues her rise up the WTA rankings at the age of 17.
The Russian stunned world No.1 Arna Sabalenka on Sunday to win her first Indian Wells title and her second WTA 1000 trophy of the season after Dubai. Andreeva is the youngest player to win the Californian event since Serena Williams in 1999 and the third-youngest in history. To make it even more remarkable, until this year she had never won a main draw match at the tournament.
Andreeva, who will turn 18 next month, has impressively won 19 out of 22 matches in 2025. Only two players have beaten her so far this year – Sabalenka twice and Rebecca Sramkova. As a result of her sucess, she cracked the top 10 for the first time last month and is currently in sixth position. To put this into perspective, she is the youngest player in the top 100.
“For me, it doesn’t feel like I have been playing for a long time. Maybe it’s happening fast, but I like it,” Andreeva said of her rapid rise.
“There is nothing bad that I can say about it. If it’s happening fast, I take it.”
“It’s not bad to win two tournaments in a row, so I’m really happy about that. If it’s happening fast, I have no idea if it is, but I’m okay with it.”
The teenager has already made her mark in the Grand Slams by reaching the semi-finals of the 2024 French Open, as well as the fourth round of the Australian Open twice and Wimbledon once. In total, she has already played 26 main draw matches at major events, winning 18 of them.
As to which surface she prefers to play on, Andreeva likes a bit of variety.
“I like to play on clay, I like to play on hard, I like to play on grass. So I can say that all three of them are my favorites. I can say that I like them all.” She said.
Mentoring Andreeva on the Tour is Conchita Martinez, who has experienced success as both a player and as a coach. Martinez won the 1994 Wimbledon championships and reached a high of No.2 in the world. After retiring from the sport, she formed a successful coaching partnership with Garbine Muguruza and also worked with Karolina Pliskova.
“The whole team is being super protective,” said Andreeva.
“I think because I have such an experienced coach she also helps me a lot with advice on how to play and also how to not to spend too much time on-site or how not to waste your energy.
“I have such a good team around me, they help protect me. They share their experience with me. I’m super grateful for that.”
Andreeva is the youngest player to win back-to-back WTA 1000 or Tier 1 tournaments since Martina Hingis in 1997.
