“I cannot predict when, but she’s definitely going to” – Sabalenka makes bold Andreeva claim
Sabalenka praised the Russian teen on Tuesday, saying it’s a matter of when, not if, she wins a Grand Slam
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Coming into the Miami Open, the last person Aryna Sabalenka wanted to talk about was likely Mirra Andreeva, given the Russian teenager ended her dreams of claiming the Indian Wells title on Sunday.
But that’s exactly who members of the media were eager to ask her about on Tuesday, with the world No 1 obliging and giving a rave review of the 17-year-old’s game and making a bold claim about her future potential.
“She definitely improved in her game as the result shows,” Sabalenka said.
“She’s moving well, she’s serving well, hitting some great shots. She has a touch and she’s really matured. She’s really so fast with the result and with the improvements in her game and she’s so young.
“I cannot predict when she’s going to be a Grand Slam winner or world No 1, but she’s definitely going to be one.”
Andreeva came from behind to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the Indian Wells Open final, extending her winning streak to 12 matches in a row and improving her head-to-head against Sabalenka to 2-4.
The pair first shared a court when Andreeva was 15, with the teen bagging her first win over the Belarusian last year at Roland-Garros.
“I’ve been dealing with her since like 15, 16, 17,” Sabalenka laughed. “But already, I can’t wait for our next match and I want to take another revenge.
“It’s just impressive to see her success, honestly, and yeah, she definitely can be a great player.”
Strong team key for young players on WTA Tour
In her runner-up speech at the Indian Wells Open, Sabalenka joked that if she had had Andreeva’s team as a teenager, she would have been able to achieve success quicker.
Expanding on that idea, the world No 1 emphasised the importance of young players – particularly women – developing strong teams around them early.
“About the young players, I mean we’re all different and everyone goes through different challenges,” she said. “I think that if you want to have the smoothest transition, you have to really surround yourself with a good team and the right people. Just so you have a healthy environment around you and then I think things are getting easier.
“Because I think especially with the girls – I’ve been there – I think it’s really tough to be successful in sport when you have a lot of stress outside of the court.
“So I think basically that’s the main thing why some of the players are really kind of like going easy through it and some are struggling.”
It should come as no surprise then that in her post-match comments on the weekend, Andreeva spoke at length about how much her team protect her from the outside world.
