For someone who was battling anger issues until recently, Mirra Andreeva showed incredible composure to overpower the big-hitting Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and write her name in the history books of tennis.
Trailing 3-1 in the third set, the 17-year-old dug deep to win the semifinal at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against the sixth seed 6-4 4-6 6-3 on Friday to become the youngest finalist of a WTA 1000 tournament.
Andreeva punched the air after the end of a two-hour-fifteen minutes battle that saw scorching forehand winners from both players and some big serves in crunch times.
But the deciding factor was Andreeva’s ability to remain calm and absorb pressure after falling behind in the this
The teenager, who beat five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals in straight sets, showed nerves of steel after Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, raced to a 3-1 lead in the third set.
But Andreeva proved why she has been hailed as the next big thing in women’s tennis by holding her nerve and serve and inducing errors from her opponent with ferocious ground strokes.
Rising star Mirra Andreeva became the youngest ever player to claim a WTA 1000 title on Saturday when she defeated Clara Tauson to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Still just 17 years and 299 days old, Andreeva also climbs into the top 10 of the world rankings with the win, becoming the youngest player to reach those heights since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007.
The Russian player took one hour and 46 minutes to defeat 22-year-old Tauson 7-6 (1), 6-1 in the final, falling to her knees in celebration as she celebrated the victory before rising to acknowledge the crowd
In her on-court interview afterwards, she thanked her team, her family and the crowd before half-jokingly thanking herself.
“Last but not least, I would like to thank me,” she said smiling as the crowd laughed. “I know what I have been dealing with and I just want to thank me for always believing in me.”
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