Mirra Andreeva achieves ‘dream’ by becoming youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist in 27 years
Mirra Andreeva has reflected on her ‘dream run’ to the Roland Garros semi-finals, with the 17-year-old becoming the youngest woman to do so since Martina Hingis.
Andreeva beat second seed Aryna Sabalenka, 6(5)-7 6-4 6-4, in her first ever match on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
This was the second of the Andreeva sisters that Sabalenka had played at Roland Garros this year, after beating Mirra’s older sister Erika Andreeva in the first round.
In her on-court interview after the match, Mirra Andreeva reflected on reaching her first Grand Slam semi-final, “I was really nervous before the match. I knew that she would have an advantage with the crowd, but I was surprised that you guys cheered for me. I didn’t expect that, so thank you very much for cheering for me today.”
Andreeva, who is coached by 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, went onto reveal that she doesn’t really have a plan on court.
“I kind of see the game and play wherever I want. I don’t even have a plan. When I see an open space on the court, I try to play there. If I think that maybe she will run there, I’ll try to play behind her back or something like that,” explained the Russian. “Me and my coach had a plan today, but I didn’t remember anything during the match. I tried to play as I feel.”
Last year, Andreeva broke onto the scene at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, by reaching the third and fourth round, respectively, as a 16-year-old.
Despite her young success, the world No.38 went onto say in her press conference that she was not expecting to still be in the tournament, “I would say that I didn’t really expect me playing semi-finals tomorrow. Well, I played [Varvara] Gracheva a few days ago and I was, like, if I win the match I will be in quarter-finals, but then if I play Sabalenka and if I win I can be in semi-finals. Wow, that could be a dream.”
Although the victory is all about Andreeva, it is key to note that Sabalenka appeared to be hampered by a stomach related illness throughout the match and was given medication during change of ends.
This is something that was confirmed after the match, with Roland Garros releasing a statement confirming that Sabalenka was unable to attend her press conference, “Aryna Sabalenka is unable to attend her post-match press conference tonight due to illness and is with the tournament medical team. WTA communications staff will provide quotes from Aryna which will be transcribed and uploaded to RG media this evening.”
While Sabalenka recovers from her illness, Andreeva will look to reach her first ever Grand Slam final when she takes on Jasmine Paolini later today.
17,37 – At 17 years and 37 days, Mirra Andreeva has become the youngest Women’s Singles Grand Slam semi-finalist since Martina Hingis in 1997 at the US Open, and the youngest at the French Open since Hingis in 1997. Astonishing. #rolandgarros | @rolandgarros @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/cTQWR9Uf0L
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 5, 2024
Inside the baseline…
It is a tricky match to a have an opinion on, as it was so dominated by Aryna Sabalenka’s clear struggles with illness. However, it also made it very tricky for Mirra Andreeva to have any sort of rhythm, and she did very well to maintain focus – especially when you consider that she is still only 17-years-old! It will be interesting to see how Andreeva handles the occasion later today, with either her or Jasmine Paolini set to reach their first major final.
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