Mirra Andreeva is back in Madrid, and this time she’s built to win it all

MADRID — Perched behind a high-top table in the VIP section at the Mutua Madrid Open, Mirra Andreeva calmly surveyed the considerable press vying for her attention. More than 20 reporters and photographers jostled for position on Tuesday, absorbed by her words and every subtle expression.

Two years ago, when a 15-year-old announced herself here to the world, this pre-tournament attention would have felt surreal, perhaps even impossible. But that was before Andreeva mounted a startling run to the Round of 16 at this WTA 1000 event, before she launched a career that promises to be distinguished.

“It feels like literally a week ago,” Andreeva said. “But, yeah, of course, I’m super excited to come back to Madrid. I have great memories.”

She’ll turn 18 in a week’s time, but her early accomplishments already mark Andreeva as a very different kind of cat. On Thursday she meets Marie Bouzkova, a three-set winner over Renata Zarazua, in a second-round match.

Andreeva won two of the season’s four WTA 1000s — back-to-back in Dubai and Indian Wells — defeating No. 2 Iga Swiatek and No. 7 Elena Rybakina in both of them and Sabalenka in the BNP Paribas final.

How extraordinary is Andreeva’s rise? She currently is No. 7 in the PIF WTA Rankings and the youngest to enter the Top 10 in 18 years. She is one of three teenagers in the Top 100 and the second one, Alexandra Eala, is at No. 72.

Typically, teenagers are not yet completely formed and lack the strength and power of their older colleagues. And yet, Andreeva has hit more winners (398) and aces (78) than any player in this year’s WTA 1000s. The scary thing? She will almost certainly get stronger.

One almost unbelievable statistic that is telling: Despite her tender age, Andreeva has fashioned a 9-9 record against Top 10 players.

So what did that searing run two years ago in Madrid tell her about the state of her game and the prospects for the future?

“I don’t know,” Andreeva said, thinking. “At that time, I didn’t really think that I achieved the Round of 16, how great it is and all that. But now of course I think about it … you know, it’s not too bad I can say.”

‘Something special’

In 2023, her year began with tears.

Best friends, 15-year-olds who grew up in the game together, met in the Australian Open junior girls’ final. It was a brutal but beautiful match, won by Alina Korneeva in 3 hours and 18 minutes. Korneeva won 139 points, one more than Andreeva.

Her first professional event that season came in April — an ITF W60 in Chiasso, Switzerland — she won all seven of her matches, including qualifying. The next week Andreeva won all six in Bellinzona, Switzerland before arriving as a main-draw wild card, ranked No. 194, in Madrid.

It was to be her first WTA Tour-level tournament.

Andreeva’s first-round opponent was Leylah Fernandez, a Top 50 player, who in her first week as a 19-year-old reached the 2021 US Open final. Andreeva saved five of six break points in a 6-3, 6-4 victory, becoming only the second 15-year-old to defeat a Top 50 player in a WTA 1000.

“At the time, I tried to forget that match,” Fernandez said here on Wednesday. “But there’s definitely something special about Mirra, the way she was able to compose herself at such a big stage. It’s never easy to play a player that’s younger than you — especially when I am considered the youngest one all the time.

“I remember when I was 15, how nervous I was. And the way she was able to handle those nerves and just play, not only that year but the next. It was like, `Let’s keep an eye on her. She’s probably going to do great in the upcoming years.’”

Twenty-four hours later, Andreeva left No. 14-ranked Beatriz Haddad Maia in her wake with a forceful 7-6(8), 6-3 win.

“I’m a bit surprised to be in the third round but also everyone was telling me they are playing the same level as you, they are just more consistent,” Andreeva told reporters. “Their mental level is different but the game-level is almost the same.”

Playing in Madrid on her 16th birthday, Andreeva then defeated Magda Linette 6-3, 6-3 to notch her 16th consecutive professional win and reach the Round of 16 against reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka.

Andreeva, the youngest player ever to reach a WTA 1000 Round of 16, was no match for the World No. 2, whose power was the difference in a 6-3, 6-1 result. Sabalenka had 28 winners — twice as many as Andreeva.

What does she remember of that sparkling debut two years ago in Madrid?

“I can say that I’m proud of myself that I did that,” Andreeva said. “But this time I want to go for more.”

And she has. Andreeva would return the favor, winning the 2025 Indian Wells final against now-No. 1 Sabalenka in three sets.

“She is so fast with the results and with the improvements in her game,” Sabalenka said one week later in Miami. “She is so young, so I cannot predict when she is going to be a Grand Slam winner or World No. 1 — but she is definitely going to be one.”

Focusing on the now

Teenagers typically invest a lot of time and effort with social media. And so, Andreeva is well aware of the growing expectations.

“A lot of people say a lot of things and sometimes there are thoughts that are crawling into your head and you sometimes start to overthink,” Andreeva said in Madrid. “I’ve experienced that and I have a great team around me. I also share my feelings and everyone is trying to help me.

“I think that now I know how to deal with this and of course it makes it a little bit easier for me.”

Perhaps more than any other player on the Hologic WTA Tour, Coco Gauff understands the burden Andreeva carries. She had her moment of discovery six years ago, as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon.

Gauff, ranked No. 313, won three qualifying matches and drew five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the first round. In what felt like a genuine torch-passing moment, Gauff defeated Williams — then still a Top 50 player — 6-4, 6-4. She made it all the way to the Round of 16 before losing to eventual champion Simona Halep.

“I think as a kid I had almost like blind confidence,” Gauff said on Tuesday. “Obviously, beating Venus was a shock but not to disrespect my opponents at the time afterward, but I just felt so confident I was going to win against them. I felt like I was supposed to, even though I probably wasn’t supposed to.

“When you’re young, you’re just out there swinging free because no one is expecting you to do anything. You’re not expecting yourself to do anything. And then maybe you realize that the level isn’t as far away as it feels when you step on the court.”

Before Madrid began, addressing the swarming media, Andreeva was asked if she’d received any particularly good advice to help her navigate the path to stardom.

“Someone told me to not to think about anything else but the point that you’re playing,” Andreeva said, declining to name the source. “If it didn’t go your way, focus on the next point — from zero. That’s how I tried to play in Dubai and Indian Wells.”

Now in Madrid, it’s not about a breakout — it’s about backing it up.