Andreeva Learning to Deal with Prodigy Pressure

When Mirra Andreeva raked in Dubai and Indian Wells titles in the span of the month, at the age of 18, expectations and hype soared around the rising Russian. To be fair, it had been growing for a while. In 2023 Andreeva demonstrated her enormous potential by winning her debut main draw matches at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. A year later, she had become a major semifinalist in Paris, where she became the youngest player to reach the last four at a Grand Slam since Martina Hingis.

You’d think she would have entered 2025 virtually immune to the hype, but Andreeva, now ranked No.9 in the world, says that she was hit by another wave last season, and she admitted that it did slow her roll.

“I can say that I did feel pressure from a lot of people, especiallyafter I won the two tournaments, I felt like people would expect me to win Miami, and then they would expect me to win Madrid and Rome. And I was, you know, that’s basically almost not possible,” she said yesterday in Brisbane after defeating Australia’s Olivia Gadecki in three sets.

“I did feel the pressure that people were expecting me to win basically every tournament that I would play, and that was not easy, but last year I learned a lot how to deal with the pressure, how to not pay attention to what people say, and how to talk about this. Because I was talking a lot about how I felt with my team and now I feel like I know more about this. I have learned a lot from the last year, and if that happens this year, I certainly know what to do with this.”

That said, Andreeva doesn’t shy away from having some lofty goals. She told reporters she still wants to be one of the game’s greats.

“I have always wanted to be like Roger, like Serena, like Rafa, because I was looking up to them, and I still do, to be the best player in the world.

“I do put some pressure on myself sometimes, but now I have also learned that if I try to just give my best in every match that I play and at the same time enjoy the moment, then, you know, I just realize that I will just play and see what the life will bring to me, and I’m not gonna put so much pressure on myself thinking that, you know, I have to win a Grand Slam to be a successful player.”

Andreeva will face Linda Noskova in the round of 16 at Brisbane.