Mirra Andreeva had an important apology to make right after winning the Indian Wells title.
Looking to her coaching team, she said sorry for being “as you like to say, a little brat” before her match against world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
It’s easy to forget Andreeva is just 17. She is playing with the maturity of a seasoned professional – and already cleaning up at some of the biggest tournaments on the WTA Tour.
Having become the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 event when she triumphed in Dubai last month, she continued her form in Indian Wells and lifted the trophy on Sunday with her 12th successive victory.
Impressive, right?
But her achievement is made even more remarkable by the fact she beat Iga Swiatek and Sabalenka – the world’s top two players – over the weekend.
The way she regrouped after dropping the second set 6-1 to Swiatek was impressive, as was her mental fortitude after losing the first set of the final against Sabalenka.
No wonder the prodigiously talented teenager is being tipped as a future world number one – and Grand Slam champion.
Talk naturally leads to which Slam that is most likely to happen at, as it will with Britain’s Jack Draper, who triumphed in the men’s final.
In truth, it could be any of the four, as Andreeva possesses a skillset suited to any surface.
The Russian agrees, saying: “I like to play on clay, I like to play on hard, I like to play on grass. So I can say that all three of them are my favourites.”
