Indian Wells (United States) (AFP) – Mirra Andreeva’s rise in the WTA rankings has accelerated so quickly that the 17-year-old Russian can’t keep track. She cracked the top 10 — reaching No. 9 — when she triumphed in Dubai last month to become the youngest-ever WTA 1000 champion, beating Grand Slam champions Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina along the way.
She was ranked 11th when she arrived at Indian Wells, but after beating Rybakina again in the fourth round and topping Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals, she’ll be headed back to the top 10 again. She wasn’t aware, because unlike last year — when she’d been promised she could get a dog if she broke into the top 20 — she wasn’t paying very close attention.
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“Before, I was always checking live rankings because before I was playing for a dog,” Andreeva said. “So after every match I play, I would check the live rankings to see if I did it.” The top-20 breakthrough came after she beat Magda Linette in Beijing last October, and Andreeva is still deciding exactly what kind of dog to get.
“I’m thinking to get an ultra mini labradoodle,” she said. “It’s going to be a labrador mixed with poodle and it’s ultra mini, so going to be even smaller than a mini version. It’s going to take time until the dog that I want will be born.”
In the meantime, she’s less focused on her ranking and more “on the match I have to play.” Andreeva will have a chance to back up another big win when she faces defending champion Swiatek in the Indian Wells semi-finals, although she knows her unexpected triumph in Dubai “doesn’t give me any benefit to our match (on Friday).”
The youngster, who says she takes inspiration from sporting greats ranging from Roger Federer to LeBron James, said tennis has gradually become a more serious affair for her. “When I was a bit younger it would all be about having fun,” she said. “But now I start to understand that it’s pretty serious what I do out here.”
“I feel like when I have fun on the court, I play great tennis, so I still try to not be super, super serious but also to have fun a little bit.”
© 2024 AFP
