Scot rallied to 16-year-old’s defence when criticised for being too hard on herself, saying instead that it demonstrated competitive fire
After producing a miraculous comeback to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open, 16-year-old sensation Mirra Andreeva said that she would print out a tweet from Andy Murray and frame it on her wall.
Andreeva was in tears at the back of the court when her third-round opponent – France’s Diane Parry – rifled a forehand past her to take a 5-1 lead in the deciding set. Yet somehow she found the inspiration to reel off the next five games and eventually claim a 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 victory.
Writing on X – formerly Twitter – Murray addressed a commentator talking about Andreeva’s tears:
https://x.com/andy_murray/status/1748990312909795588?s=20
There may be a subtext to Murray’s message, as he himself is prone to displays of negativity when he is behind in matches – a trend that has only worsened in recent seasons.
Murray’s approval was welcomed by Andreeva, who always identifies him as her favourite male player. She caused a stir last year when she played her first top-level tournament in Madrid, beat two seeded opponents, and then gushed to reporters that “You see Andy Murray… you see his face. And he’s so beautiful in life. He is so amazing.” (“Imagine how good she’s going to be when she gets her eyes fixed,” he replied laconically.)
After sneaking past Parry on Friday, Andreeva said: “I didn’t really think that he would watch a match, then after he would tweet. Honestly, I will try to print it out somehow. I will put it in a frame. I will bring it everywhere with me. I will maybe put it on the wall so I can see it every day.”
She also suggested that her tendency towards self-criticism had been crucial in turning this match around. “Maybe being harsh on myself actually helped me,” she said. “I just kept pushing myself. I was saying not good words to myself.”
Born in April 2007, Andreeva is extraordinarily precocious. Yet she is already too old to set any new records here, even if she were to go on and lift the trophy. Martina Hingis, the so-called “Swiss Miss”, was five months younger than Andreeva is now when she won her first major title in Melbourne in 1997.
Unexpectedly, Andreeva turns out to be familiar with Hingis’s work – and even to have strong feelings about the French Open final that Hingis lost to a soon-to-retire Steffi Graf in 1999.
“I watched this match,” said Andreeva. “I felt so bad for her. I felt really sad watching her. All this crowd was on her. I watched this match several times. Of course, Steffi Graf was also an amazing player [but] every time I feel the same way: that she didn’t really deserve it.”
Asked a follow-up question about her viewing habits, Andreeva explained that “When there is no tournament, for example on the off-season, I like to watch some old matches. My favourite one is Federer-Nadal in 2017.”
