Facing France’s last hope, Andreeva tunes out crowd noise to advance at Roland-Garros

With a Frenchwoman on the other side of the net, the fans were not on Mirra Andreeva’s side on Monday in Paris. Nonetheless, Andreeva stayed mentally strong to defeat Varvara Gracheva.

Mirra Andreeva, Rome, 2024 © Zuma / Panoramic

Ricky Dimon

June 4, 2024

With Corentin Moutet having exited Roland-Garros on Sunday night at the hands of Jannik Sinner, Varvara Gracheva was improbably the last player from the host nation still alive in either the men’s or women’s singles draws.

Needless to say, had plenty of crowd support from the Parisians during her fourth-round match against Mirra Andreeva on Monday afternoon.

Normally you’d think that it would be a difficult situation to handle for any opponent — especially one who is just 17 years old. However, Andreeva handled it with maturity and mental fortitude beyond her years. The result was a 7-5, 6-2 victory for the Russian, ending the hopes of the last remaining Frenchwoman.

I think that I did a good job with it, and it actually was helping me a little bit to fire me up from inside.
Mirra Andreeva

“It was tough to play against her,” Andreeva assured. “She’s (a) French player (and) my good friend. I’m very happy that I managed to win this match.

“In the beginning (the fans booing bothered me) a little bit, but then I just kind of adjusted it for my advantage. I know now how to use it for myself — not against. I think that I did a good job with it, and it actually was helping me a little bit to fire me up from inside.

“I think that her playing at home with the French crowd, it gave her a lot of confidence and a lot of power. She definitely felt really great and confident on court…. Today was very tense and nervous. Big court, big stage. There was a lot of crowd, a lot of people. So, yeah, I’m just proud of the way I managed to stay calm and keep playing my game.”

Andreeva is through to the quarter-finals of a major for the first time in her career and will go up against Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday.