Andreeva, 16, is the only one of eight Russians to have broken the Grand Slam qualification barrier and reached the first round of Wimbledon 2023. Mirra had never competed on grass before, but despite this, she won three matches. and in the final of the qualification she beat the German Tamara Korpach – 7: 5, 5: 7, 6: 2. Her opponent at the start of the base will be the Chinese Xiyu Wang.
Debut in grass “Helmet”
Mirra is the youngest player to qualify since Corey Gauff in 2019. Like many juniors yesterday, she was out on the grass for the first time; this coverage is rare in the ITF, on the junior tour (except for Wimbledon) it doesn’t exist at all. The impressions are not the most pleasant, but little by little the grip on the grass, Mirra admits, is improving.
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“In the first training session on the grass I fell three times. It took me quite a while to get used to the grass: a different movement, the ball bounces differently, the grass is slippery. I feel a little slow, but I think it’s okay. I try to take small steps and still feel the danger on the court. But, as we can see, so far everything is going quite well,” the WTA press service quoted the tennis player as saying before the start of Wimbledon qualifying.
myrrh andreeva
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Naturally, it’s too early to do much running along the grid, especially on a new surface. But the 16-year-old Russian sensationally storms the first rounds of all WTA tournaments and Slams, where she only participates. So why not paint all of Mirra’s alleged path to the Wimbledon final? At one point, Martina Hingis became the youngest winner on TBS thanks to her triumph at the Australian Open in 1997. She took that “Helmet” at the age of 16 years and 117 days. Mirra is 16 years and two months old today.
Estimated trajectory of Mirra Andreeva in Wimbledon 2023:
1st round: Xiyu Wang (China); 2nd round: Heather Watson (England) / Barbora Kreychikova (Czech Republic); 3rd round: Anastasia Potapova (Russia) / Margarita Betova (Russia); 4th round: Maria Sakkari (Greece) / Madison Keys (USA); 1/4: Arina Sobolenko (Belarus) / Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic); 1/2: Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) / Ons Jaber (Tunisia); Final: Iga Swiatek (Poland) / Jessica Pegula (United States).
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Who is Andreeva’s first rival?
At the start of Wimbledon, the rivals of the Russians are racket number 65 in the world – Xiyu Wang has not yet passed the first round on the “Helmet” grass. In 2019 and 2021 she was in the qualifiers, and 2022 in London she finished at the start of the main draw. This season, the Chinese woman discovered grass for herself even before TBSH: she played a bunch of tournaments at once: Nottingham, Birmingham, Eastbourne. In the last two, she went through the madness of qualifying, but lost to Rebecca Marino in the first round and Madison Keys in the second. Mirra decided not to disperse and she directed all her efforts to the qualification: there she beat Rosu Mas one by one-6: 3, 6: 1. Chloe Paquet – 6:1, 6:2 and Tamara Korpacz in the final – 7:5, 5:7, 6:2.
xiyu wang
Photo: Simon Bruty/Getty Images
Xiu is the USO junior-2018 champion and it was on the courts of America that she showed her best results already in adults: she reached the 3rd round there. Despite the higher ranking, 22-year-old Xiyu does not seem to be the favorite with an advantage: in the collection of the young opponent, she still has victories over eminent and higher-rated tennis players. In the “thousand” of Madrid, she immediately knocked out a hat-trick: she surpassed Leila Fernández, Beatriz Haddad-Maya and Magda Lynette; She also reached the third round of Roland Garros, where she lost to Corey Gauff, but in three sets.
You can also remember his fantastic breakthrough on tour. The 2022 season was the debut for juniors: he finished in 405 positions. And four ITF titles last year were followed by two more majors, W60 in Chiasso and Bellinzona, in 2023. So now she’s ranked 102nd in the WTA and continuing to climb: in live rankings, she’s ranked 97th. But success and popularity both on tour and with fans, according to Mirra, doesn’t scare her or distract her from her goals. The main one of it is to win match after match.
When is the match?
Mirra starts at Wimbledon on Court 9 tomorrow, July 4. The Russian woman admitted that she likes modest and almost deserted places more than the central arenas: there Andreeva does not feel pressure and everything seems more comfortable. On the Wimbledon schedule, the Russian woman and the Chinese woman will start the match with the last and fourth starts. Immediately after the Australian Christopher O’Connell and the Serbian Hamad Mejedovic, the Romanian Sorana Kirsti and the German Tatiana Maria, the Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler and the Japanese Josuke Watanuki.
What do the experts think?
“All the qualifying matches, except the last one, were easy for Mirra. Access to the Wimbledon main draw speaks to Andreeva’s unconditional talent. She plays on grass for the first time and immediately passes the entire Grand Slam qualification. Mirra feels very comfortable playing on grass, she shows it. She surprises her composure and her eternal calm on the court. She is only sixteen years old, which is uncharacteristic for her age. Will she go far in Wimbledon? It’s still too early to talk about possibilities. I am sure that Mirra will not lose face in any case, ”Anna Dmitrieva shared her thoughts on Andreeva at Wimbledon in an interview with The Championships.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that Mirra ended up in the main draw at Wimbledon. She passed the grade easily enough, without any problem. I am sure that Andreeva will be a difficult opponent for any tennis player at Wimbledon! It won’t be easy for anyone. It is clear that there are always strong tennis players: Shventek, Rybakina, Sobolenko. But even they can be fought. Can Mirra go far? Everything will depend on the grid”, said Andrey Chesnokov in an interview with the Championship.
