Sunday, March 16, 2025

Mirra Andreeva

Press Conference

M. ANDREEVA/A. Sabalenka

2-6, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Mirra, congratulations. Back-to-back WTA 1000s.

(Applause.)

THE MODERATOR: Can you just put into words what it feels like right now?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Yeah, thank you. Of course I feel a lot of adrenaline still. It feels amazing. After the first set it was tough to come back really, but I tried my best.

Yeah, in the end, now I can really look back to that moment. Now I'm super happy and super proud of myself.

(Applause.)

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Congratulations. Very well done. It felt like you got it to a place where you were free and very relaxed in the second and third set after such a trying opening set. How did you get there, and did it feel that way to you?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: That's not true. I didn't feel relaxed. The whole match I felt super nervous. After the first set, I just realized, that, oh, well, what I do now, it doesn't work, so I have to change something.

Yeah, in the second set, I tried to play a little bit more aggressive. I didn't try to overhit her, because I don't think anyone can overhit Aryna, because she's super-powerful player.

I tried to really, I don't know, create something to make her uncomfortable, and, you know, point by point, game by game, I managed to do that.

Q. You're still 17. Traveling the world. You have a great team. Now you're winning these extraordinary tournaments. What's the best part of being Mirra? What's the most fun?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Oh, okay. I don't know. I mean, it's nice to be me, I guess, maybe (smiling). But I don't know what to answer. I never really thought about it.

I mean, for me it's nice to travel around the world with the people that I care about, with my team, to play all these great tournaments and to have fun on the court, just to enjoy my life.

So I think that's what I like about being me. I will try to keep doing the same for as long as I can.

Q. Well done. Does it feel like this is all happening very fast for you? You have been playing tennis practically since you could walk almost. Does it feel like a long journey? How does this all come at you right now?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: I would say that for me it doesn't really feel like I have been playing for a long time. Maybe it's happening fast, but I like it. There is nothing bad that I can say about it. If it's happening fast, I take it, you know.

It's not bad to win two tournaments in a row, so I'm really happy about that. If it's happening fast, I have no idea if it is, but I'm okay with it. Yes, I take it.

Q. Aryna said again what a good team you have behind you and it's important at your age that you're protected when so many offers and opportunities are coming in. Who are some of the people and processes behind the scenes to keep you safe, grounded, protected with this sudden fame?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, mostly that guy in the white long sleeve (smiling).

I can say that the whole team is being super protective. I think that because I have such an experienced coach, as well, she also helps me a lot with, you know, she gives me advices, you know, how to play and also how to maybe not to spend too much time on-site or how not to waste your energy.

I think, yeah, because I have such a good team around me, they help to protect me. They share their experience with me. I'm super grateful for that.

Yeah, I think it's important to have a good and experienced team around you.

Q. These two big hard-court victories now, what do you consider your best surface? Is it hard court or clay? And when you're not 100% maybe physically, you can choose to be 100% mentally. Do you feel you did that today? And if so, how did you do that?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: I can say that I have no idea what my favorite surface is. 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 favorites. I can say that I like them all.

I wouldn't say that I was not 100% physically. Well, maybe not 100, especially in the first set, but then I managed to stay positive, and that helped me to be a little bit more active and aggressive.

Yeah, I would say that the first set was a little -- I would say that I didn't play pretty good, but of course, you know, she played amazing. So there is not much I could do about it. So yeah, in the first set I didn't feel 100% physically, but then with time, I just tried to fight and I tried to overcome it.

Yeah, with time it happened in the end.

Q. You said Conchita advised you not to spend too much time on-site, so when you weren't on-site, how did you spend your time in the desert?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, we arrive at least one hour before my practice to warm up and to do all the routines. Then I practice. Then I like to have a little, not a little, maybe a normal lunch with my team when we talk, we discuss something.

Then I do some treatment, recovery, and then we try to go home right away, but sometimes there are things that I have to do.

So we try to spend as less time as possible on-site so I saved my energy for the matches and for tournaments that are long like this one. So far I think we have been doing a good job with that.

Q. You spoke about Conchita maybe calling you a brat this morning. Were the nerves pretty bad for you?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Yes. I would actually say that I was a brat, and there were a lot of nerves, as well.

When I'm nervous, I kind of tend to close my personality a little bit, so I don't let anybody in. You know, I don't really talk much.

I think Conchita tried to kind of relax, kind of create a nice and relaxed atmosphere around us today, but in the morning it was a bit tough for me, because, yeah, I was nervous. But I think that she tried her best. In the end, she did good with it.

Q. Two questions, actually. The first is what are you going to do to celebrate? I imagine it's different celebrating here than it is when you won in the Middle East. But also, you have to get to Florida pretty quickly. The other question is how do you think winning a tournament like this will affect your mind going into Grand Slams, or are those completely different to you from your experience?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: First question, I think that we're going to celebrate in the airport or on the plane, because tomorrow morning we're going to fly to Miami, so there is not much I can do about it, because we still got to prepare and get ready for the next tournament.

The second question is that I think that I'm just going to do what I did before. For me, it wouldn't matter if it's a Grand Slam or if it's a 1000 or a 500. I'm going to do what I did.

I'm going to stick to my routines. If it's working, then I'm just going to do what's working, and we're going to see if it works on a slam or if it works on a 500 tournament.

For me, it will not depend on which tournament I play. I'm not going to do anything different. I'm just going to stick to what I have been doing before, and we're going to see if I'm going to succeed or not.

Q. Somebody like yourself who left home, moved to France and changed countries to train, it might be viewed as somebody who sacrificed a lot for their tennis. Do you see it that way? Do you think you have sacrificed a lot to be a young champion?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: I think that of course my parents did a lot, but I wouldn't say that I sacrificed a lot. Of course I work hard every day, and I think we all try to get better and improve.

Of course it's not easy, but nobody said that it's going to be easy. I wouldn't say that I sacrificed a lot to be here. I think that I can say thanks, a big thanks to my parents, because they did a lot when we started playing tennis. In the beginning it's pretty important to have parents that support and that believe in you.

So our parents were exactly like this. So for me, now, when I remember what we did in the beginning of my career, I wouldn't say that we sacrificed a lot.