Indian Wells (United States) (AFP) – Mirra Andreeva, already the youngest-ever WTA 1000 champion, tries to add another prestigious title to her resume on Sunday when she takes on world number one Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells. For the 17-year-old Russian — who ended Iga Swiatek’s title defense in the semi-finals — it’s a chance to avenge a stinging 6-1, 6-2 loss to the Belarusian star in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
“She almost killed me, especially in Melbourne,” Andreeva said. “I’m going to try to take a revenge, because I still have nothing to lose.” Andreeva has made big strides since that Australian Open defeat, notably toppling Grand Slam champions Swiatek and Elena Rybakina on the way to the WTA 1000 title in Dubai last month. That briefly pushed her into the top 10 in the world rankings, and she’ll be back there when the new rankings are released on Monday.
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But Sabalenka seems fully recovered from her shock loss to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final — a defeat she avenged with a 6-0, 6-1 rout of the American in the semi-finals. Sabalenka hasn’t dropped a set in reaching her second Indian Wells final, and after finishing runner-up to Rybakina in the California desert two years ago she’s eager to go one step better. The 26-year-old joked that taking on Andreeva would be “kind of like an old mama playing against a kid,” but in fact, she said, “I passed this stage of thinking about the age of my opponent.”
Sabalenka has won four of five prior meetings with Andreeva, including two this year. Andreeva claimed her only win in the series with an upset in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year. The Russian is on an 11-match winning streak and is tied with Swiatek and Keys for most match wins on tour this year with 18.
The youngest woman to reach the Indian Wells final since 17-year-old Kim Clijsters in 2001, Andreeva said she’s aware of, but not comparing herself to, past WTA teen greats — a list that includes the likes of Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, and Venus and Serena Williams. Changes in the increasingly physical women’s game along with increased awareness of the dangers of youthful burnout have seen the number of pro prodigies decline, and Andreeva is one of just two teenagers currently ranked in the top 100.
“Of course I know that Monica Seles and Martina Hingis, they won a lot of tournaments and a lot of titles while they were still teenagers,” Andreeva said. “I try to kind of be at the same level but tennis has changed a lot and now I cannot imagine me winning eight slams at 17 years old. It’s impossible. I try to not really think about it because I can start to compare myself and then I don’t think that it’s going to lead me to any good.”
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