Andreeva, Balancing Professionalism and the Emotional Side of Teenagers

After losing the first set in the final of the WTA 1000 Indian Wells tennis tournament, Mirra Andreeva vented her frustration while looking toward the team stands, particularly at her coach, Conchita Martinez. She shook her head, bent her body forward, rolled her eyes upward, and displayed various body language that conveyed a negative impression.

The moment occurred when Andreeva faced the world's number one women's singles tennis player, Aryna Sabalenka, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, California, United States, on Sunday (16/3/2025) local time. After losing the first set, Andreeva won with a score of 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The Indian Wells tournament, which crowned Jack Draper as the men's singles champion at the ATP Masters 1000 level, is one of the premier tournaments within the professional championship structure. The ATP Masters/WTA 1000 Indian Wells is even nicknamed the "Fifth Grand Slam."

Andreeva endured the powerful groundstrokes of Sabalenka, who could attack from the baseline. The 17-year-old Russian tennis player was even able to score points from defensive positions, such as when she changed the rhythm of the game with a drop shot or executed a passing shot as Sabalenka attacked near the net. The ball from the passing shot soared far beyond Sabalenka's reach but still landed within the court.

After winning the final in two hours and four minutes, Andreeva then apologized to Martinez for her poor behavior. What she displayed after losing the opening set showed the character of a teenager who is still easily angered, even though her name has risen rapidly in the past month as a professional tennis player.

"I have a strong character. I know, as you mentioned, I am mischievous. What happened earlier was because I was very nervous. I apologize for my behavior earlier," said Andreeva, addressing Martinez during the award ceremony.

The large crystal trophy was awarded to Andreeva after an extraordinary two-week journey at Indian Wells. Prior to defeating Sabalenka, she eliminated the world’s second-ranked player, Iga Swiatek, in the semifinals. This marked Swiatek's second consecutive loss to Andreeva.

Swiatek, who is known for her calm play due to being assisted by a sports psychologist since she was a teenager, could not contain her frustration against Andreeva. She hit the ball hard on the floor when receiving it from the ball boy and the rebound almost hit the ball boy. Swiatek was booed by the crowd.

Elina Svitolina was also frustrated by Andreeva, who beat her in the quarterfinals. Seventh seed Elena Rybakina was defeated by Andreeva in the fourth round.

Rybakina, Swiatek and Sabalenka have a reputation as Grand Slam champions. Rybakina and Swiatek were also defeated by Andreeva on their way to winning the WTA 1000 Dubai, Feb. 16-22. The series of wins over the world's top players has made Andreeva confident that she can beat them in the future.

"Before, I just tried to win as many games as possible when competing. Now, I believe I have the ability to beat them," he said.

Andreeva's achievements over the past month have resulted in several records for her, including becoming the youngest player to defeat the world's top and second-ranked players in a single tournament since 1990. The Andy Murray idol is also the youngest player to win two WTA 1000 titles, formerly known as WTA Premier and WTA Tier I, in succession since Martina Hingis in 1997.

Entering her third year as a professional, Andreeva is ranked sixth in the world according to the WTA rankings released Monday. She has moved up five places from her previous ranking.

With that position, Andreeva became the youngest player in the world's top ten. She is younger than the average age of players in that position, which is 24.7 years.

Before Andreeva, there was Cori “Coco” Gauff who rose to fame at the age of 16, when she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon 2019 by defeating Venus Williams in the first round. Coco’s development was not as rapid as Andreeva’s, but Coco already has one Grand Slam title, from the 2023 US Open. However, Andreeva does not want to be compared to other tennis players.

Becoming a Grand Slam champion and the journey after that is the real challenge for a professional tennis player. Andreeva will face that challenge with the world spotlight after winning the WTA 1000, although she still has a long time to develop. At her current age, Andreeva, in fact, can still be categorized as a junior tennis player.

Before talking about the chances of winning a Grand Slam, Andreeva will face the closest challenge that is no less difficult, namely winning the title of "Sunshine Double". This is the term when a tennis player wins the tournament in Indian Wells and Miami back to back. The Miami tournament, which is also a combination of WTA 1000 and ATP Masters 1000, is held from March 18-30.

The difference in the character of the field even though both are hard courts, the type of ball, the weather, and the three-hour time difference are challenges for athletes. Moreover, there is no break between the tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.

One factor that still has to be controlled during a match is emotion, as seen when playing against Sabalenka. To overcome this, Andreeva learned to be a better person armed with a sentence once said by basketball star LeBron James.

"I use his words as motivation. In an interview, James said, if you can't perform at 100 percent physically, you can choose to be 100 percent mentally. That's what can make someone a champion. I learned to apply that," she said on the official WTA website. (AFP)