Andreeva Stays Away From Social Media For “Double Sunshine”

MIAMI, WEDNESDAY — Mirra Andreeva has no time to celebrate her championship title from the WTA 1000 Indian Wells tennis tournament. To seize the opportunity of achieving the "Sunshine Double," the 17-year-old female tennis player immediately focused on preparing for her appearance at the WTA 1000 Miami, including refraining from using social media.

Andreeva will compete in the combined men's and women's tournament, ATP Masters 1000/WTA 1000 Miami, in Florida, United States, from March 18 to 30. This championship is at the same level as the two tournaments she consecutively won in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Indian Wells, United States.

The Russian won the Indian Wells title on Sunday (16/3/2025), then was in Miami the following day. As one of the seeds, the 11th seed received a bye in the first round and until Thursday had not had a turn to play against Vera Kudermetova in the second round. Andreeva was only scheduled to play in doubles with Diana Shnaider on Thursday.

Even so, participating in two consecutive major tournaments is not an easy task. Moreover, the WTA Indian Wells and Miami are held for 12 and 13 days, respectively.

Another factor that poses a challenge for tennis players is the differing characteristics of the courts at the two locations, despite both being hard courts. The court at Indian Wells Tennis Garden reflects the ball more slowly compared to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Additionally, the balls used are different.

The weather is also different, and there is a three-hour time difference between the two cities. Therefore, adapting and then competing in Indian Wells and Miami, with consistently high-performance standards, is no less challenging than competing in Grand Slam tournaments.

Thus, not many tennis players can win both tournaments in the same year, a feat known as the "Sunshine Double." Even Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, who hold 22 and 23 Grand Slam titles respectively, have not been able to achieve it.

There are only seven male tennis players and four female players who have achieved the "Sunshine Double." The male players are Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras, Marcelo Rios, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic. Meanwhile, the female players on this list are Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, and Iga Swiatek.

After winning the WTA Indian Wells, defeating the world's top two players, Andreeva has a chance to join the list of "Sunshine Double" winners. She has high confidence after winning back-to-back WTA 1000 titles.

On the other hand, his journey in Dubai and Indian Wells which always reached the final round could make him tired. Moreover, the youngest tennis player in the world's top ten will make his debut in Miami. He had the opportunity to play in 2024, but he did not play due to an arm injury.

"I had a good moment and I'm still excited about the title. However, I have to focus on Miami right away. I'll try to win as many times as possible here," he said.

With no break between the two tournaments, Andreeva and her team have yet to celebrate the title in Indian Wells. She, in fact, has not had time to monitor the reaction of the tennis community and fans to the Indian Wells title.

In addition to having to train again soon, the athlete who also has a professional tennis sister (Erika Andreeva), deliberately distanced herself from social media for a while. Andreeva did not want various comments or direct messages to her on social media to have a negative impact, such as adding to the burden of undergoing other tournaments. After all, she has been in the international spotlight for what she has achieved in the past month.

"I have a good team that helps me stay away from social media. We spend quality time together. When I feel stressed or in doubt, I prefer to talk to them for help. So far, it has been very positive," said Andreeva, who is coached by Conchita Martinez, a former Spanish tennis player who once assisted Garbine Muguruza.

The tennis player who has been training in Cannes, France, since 2022 will also learn to deal with various situations as her career climbs at a young age. Cori “Coco” Gauff once felt that when her name soared when she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon 2019 at the age of 16 by defeating Venus Williams in the first round.

"Of course I am very proud of this achievement, but I have to learn not to focus on previous results and positions in the rankings. I have to focus on the challenges ahead," he said.

Based on the draw, if she can beat Kudermetova, Andreeva will have a chance to meet Amanda Anisimova in the third round, then Emma Navarro in the fourth round. Other players in the same half of the draw as her include Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, and Swiatek.

There was also Emma Raducanu who beat Sayaka Ishii 6-2, 6-1 in the first round on Wednesday local time, as well as the players she beat in Indian Wells, namely Clara Tauson and Elina Svitolina.

In men's singles competition, Gael Monfils became the second-oldest player to win the Miami Masters. The 38-year-old Frenchman defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round to set up a second-round meeting with Jiri Lehecka.

Before Monfils, Jimmy Connors was the oldest player to win the Miami Masters. He won in the second round, after a bye in the first round, in 1992 at the age of 39. However, his progress was stopped by Sampras in the third round.

At 46th in the world, Monfils is the oldest player in the top 50. He is a year older than Novak Djokovic in fifth place.

His best period came in 2016 when he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open Grand Slam and the semifinals of the US Open. That year, Monfils also reached his highest ranking of 11th.

Despite being the same age as Nadal, who will retire in 2024, Monfils has chosen to pursue a career in professional tennis, which he has been doing since 2004. When appearing in the first round in Miami, the father of one made it difficult for his opponent to return shots at various angles.

"I tried to make it difficult for him to anticipate my game with different angles of shots. I also directed the ball as close to the baseline as possible so that he didn't have a chance to control the match," Monfils said on the official ATP website.

The top two seeds at the Miami Masters are Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz. The draw places Alcaraz and Djokovic in the same half, giving them a chance to meet in the semifinals.

However, reaching the semifinals has not been easy for Djokovic this year. Out of four tournaments, he has only reached the last four once, at the Australian Open, against Zverev. Even that could not be completed because Djokovic had a hamstring injury.

The defeat at Melbourne Park was part of a three-match losing streak, the last of which came before playing in Miami. Djokovic lost in the first round in Doha, then the second round in Indian Wells. (AFP)