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Her second-round match was barely an hour old, but Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva had already gone viral. She had won, arguably, the biggest sets of her tennis career, dispatching No. 6 ranked Ons Jabeur of Tunisia with an incredible 6-0, 6-2, drubbing that took a mere 54 minutes. Just a year before, Andreeva had been playing in the Australian Open’s girls tournament. Now, she is ranked 47th in the world and heading to the third round with a massive upset under her belt.
After the match, standing at midcourt, Andreeva was asked what the difference for her was over the past year.
“I feel like I am a bit more mature than I was before,” she said. “I just ..”
When Andreeva then trailed off, seemingly nervous, interviewer Laura Robson bailed her out by saying, “You’re only 16.”
Andreeva smiled and her very obvious answer drew laughter from the crowd. “That’s true, but … last year I was 15 …”
Andreeva continued: “This year I think I changed a lot. And you can see that on the court.”
The endearing clip had drawn more than 100,000 views within its first 90 minutes after the tournament Twitter/X account posted it.
Mirra Andreeva Announced her Arrival on Wednesday
Safe to say we will be hearing more from Mirra Andreeva in this tournament. While the overall score of the match against Jabeur was impressive, the first set was an utter demolition by the 2023 WTA Newcomer of the Year. She lost just eight points and needed 20 minutes to take the opener from her elder rival.
It was Andreeva’s first win against a Top 10 player. She had been 0-4. Beating could well be her coming-out moment on the world stage. As the Australian Open Twitter/X account also posted:
“A star is born. 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva stuns No. 6 seed Jabeur 6-0 6-2 to reach the third round!”
Andreeva and Jabeur shared a hug after the result, and Andreeva was deferential toward Jabeur.
“I was really nervous before the match, because I’m really inspired by Ons, by the way she plays,” Andreeva said on-court afterwards. “In the first set, I showed amazing tennis. I honestly didn’t expect that from myself. I just wanted to go and play on this big court for the second time, just to enjoy tennis, just to enjoy the time, and I did.”
Snake-Handling at the Australian Open?
Not only did Andreeva attract attention for her dismantling of Jabeur and her charming interview, but she added to her legend by pointing out that one way she got ready for her on-court challenges at the Australian Open was to do a small bit of snake-handling—a python, to be specific.
Before the match, players were treated to an opportunity to get up close and personal with some zoo animals. Andreeva was not going to miss it, reptiles and all.
She told Robson (per Tennis.com): “When I arrived here, I saw that they would bring the animals on the 16th.
“I told myself I had to be here on that day to watch all the animals and hold the snake. I did that with my agent; he was so scared, but I forced him to do it so we did it together. The animals are the only thing I’ve done so far in Melbourne!”
Well. Maybe not the only thing.
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