The story of the rapid ascent of 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva became one of the main ones in the first half of the French Open tennis championship. Conducting her debut season in adult tennis, the Russian woman lost in the third round to the sixth racket of the world, American Corey Gauff, but delighted both the demanding French public and experts who predicted a great future for her.
For fans who have been watching tennis for more than a year and even for more than a decade, it is interesting to compare each new star with the young talents of the past. How many of them were in Russian women's tennis — do not count. Of course, the first decade of the 2000s turned out to be especially rich, when the Russian finals of the WTA tournaments and even the Grand Slam were not only not uncommon, but quite a common occurrence. Maria Sharapova, Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva — these are just a few of those who have made a difference in the world of women's tennis, some of them since their teenage years.
Mirra Andreeva does not have deadly punches like Sharapova, the ability to dig into the back line like Zvonareva, ballet grace like Dementieva, or natural endurance like Kuznetsova — at least none of the above is immediately evident . And yet, perhaps, this is the first Russian tennis player since that generation, to which colossal attention is riveted already during her first adult season. Yes, while she is not even among the hundred strongest in the world, but, firstly, in a week she will jump into it, and secondly, back in early April, Mirra was in the fourth hundred. The progress is incredible, but also the clean statistics are impressive — this season she has 22 wins, only three losses and the first set taken from a tennis player from the top ten.
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The Russian woman won the game against Gauff in the third round of Roland Garros. Could this match have ended differently? Still, with all due respect to the Russian woman, who is rapidly flying up the tennis ladder, it is unlikely. The American, although she herself is still a teenager, has much more experience. So, last year on the Parisian courts she reached the final, and this season at the first Grand Slam tournament in Australia — to the semi-finals. In the first game, which remained for Andreeva, Gauff was very nervous, but as soon as she coped with the excitement, she confidently led the game and gave up only two games in the next two sets.
It is noteworthy that Gauff does not believe that experience helped her in the match against Andreeva. “To be honest, I didn’t feel it,” the American admitted. “Before her, I met with two tennis players younger than me, and in one of these matches, experience definitely played a role. But in the match with her (Andreeva), I’m not sure. I think she plays, according to the sensations, about like me, beyond her years.Mirra herself believes that she still lacks the ability to let go of thoughts about the result. “At first I just played tennis,” the Russian woman shared. “I didn’t think if I would win or lose, I just played as it was played. And after taking the first set, I realized that I could win the match as well. I began to worry, I didn’t want to miss this opportunity. I think it was a mistake — I should have just kept playing.»
Now Andreeva is waiting for new tournaments — perhaps Wimbledon, which starts in a month. Too often, the rules of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) prohibit tennis players of her age from entering the court in professional matches. And the fans will continue to argue — should Mirra be considered the future first racket of the world or not?
The «wise man» of Russian tennis, Shamil Tarpishchev, recalls that forecasts for junior athletes are a thankless task. “Mirra Andreeva is doing well so far: both in terms of results, and in terms of the quality of work, and in terms of technical and tactical equipment. If this continues, then, of course, she will be a star. But we have to wait a couple more years, because the formation of Everyone goes differently. Today everything is optimal, but this is not a guarantee that she will be an outstanding player, since many things depend on genetic characteristics. You can’t give big advances at this age, «said the president of the Russian Tennis Federation.
“When Rafael Nadal won the Spanish junior championship, his uncle Tony called the Spanish Tennis Federation and asked: “And who became an outstanding athlete from those who won at this age?” It turned out that in the entire history of Spain, of those who won the junior championship at an early age countries, only two became great tennis players — Alex Corretja and Nadal. And the rest disappeared, «Tarpishchev said.By the way, Gauff, who stopped Andreeva at Roland Garros, was herself, as they say, in the shoes of a Russian woman three or four years ago — she was considered as a future superstar and followed her every step. It is not surprising that the American was asked about what advice she would give Andreeva from the height of her 19-year-old, no matter how funny it may sound, age.
“I would give this advice: everything that you do, do it for yourself, and not for anyone else. When you go out on the court, tell yourself — this is for me. Life and the game will become much more enjoyable with this approach,” — said Gauff, adding that at this age it is very important for a tennis player to have a team that would not put pressure on him in terms of achieving results.
Mirra's team is all right. She works at the Jean-René Lisnar Academy in Cannes — the one that brought Daniil Medvedev to the top. Her business is run by the IMG agency, which is famous for its ability to «catch» future superstars in lakes with young athletes. Of course, this does not guarantee Andreeva anything — but at least it provides her with fertile ground for growth.
And the young Russian tennis player is all right, so to speak, with her head. This is largely why, at the age of 16, she conquers not only the courts of world tennis capitals, but also press conference halls. Her spontaneity is admired by reporters who have talked to a considerable number of superstars and even colleagues in the shop. Mirra was asked at a press conference in Paris — how does she do it? «I do what the coach advised — I try not to be a diva and behave modestly,» she replied.And Andreeva does it in such a way that you have no doubt that there is no falsehood in her. «You see Andy Murray, and he's so handsome!» — Mirra exclaimed, talking to reporters at a tournament in Madrid, to which the British tennis player ironically replied on the social network: «Imagine what she will achieve when she corrects her eyesight.» Then the young Russian woman admitted that she sent congratulations to the two-time Olympic champion on winning one of the tournaments, to which in response he wished her good luck at Roland Garros.
«Mirra is a sweet girl,» she noted the seventh racket of the world, Ons Jaber from Tunisia, after Andreeva, in the context of the topic with Murray, also called her beautiful and admitted that she likes African tennis. And this characteristic for a 16-year-old girl in a sport where many believe that for big victories you need to hate your opponents is a big victory in itself. Yes, the Russian woman will score 25 championship titles at the Grand Slam tournaments (as she wished) or not — the question, but to wish them to a girl with a complete absence of any signs of star fever is oh so nice.