Mirra Andreeva Regrets Her Indian Wells Outburst Already

Mirra Andreeva was not on her best behavior during her title defense at the BNP Paribas Open. And when her bid to become the first woman to complete a successful title defense in the California desert since 1991 ended on Monday against Katerina Siniakova, she hurled an obscenity into the desert air.

Andreeva, who defeated Aryna Sabalenka in a thrilling final last year at Indian Wells, was the youngest champion in the California desert since Serena Williams in 1999.

Camera’s caught her using some ugly language, and the first thing she wanted to say when she was asked about it was that she was sorry.

“Of course I can say that there were a lot of emotions that I was going through after the loss,” the 18-year-old said. “But of course I’m not really proud of how I managed it. I’m not really proud of how I handled it in the end.

“Those are the things that really need to work on soon. I don’t know. Not in the future but whenever I get the chance.

“I hope that I can work on it and I get better in that, as well.”

Andreeva also smashed a racquet after the second set, and received a code violation. Simply put, it wasn’t her day.

Were her actions regrettable? Yes.

Is it understandable, given her age and how badly she wants to win. Sure.

She says the outburst was not directed at anyone in particular. If anything, she was just venting some negative emotions.

“I mean, after the loss, I just got very angry, so I say those things sometimes to myself,” she said. “I mean, first to myself, of course, but then, yeah, it was just anger coming out, just a lot of emotions. Not really towards anyone.”