“I would like to thank me”: 17-year-old Andreeva wins Dubai title
17-year-old Mirra Andreeva beat Clara Tauson 7-6 (1), 6-1 to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship. Her second career title following her win in Iasi last year, it will take her into the Top 10 for the first time – the first 17-year-old to reach that ranking milestone since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007. She … Continued
Mirra Andreeva (Altaf Qadri/AP/SIPA)
17-year-old Mirra Andreeva beat Clara Tauson 7-6 (1), 6-1 to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship.
Her second career title following her win in Iasi last year, it will take her into the Top 10 for the first time – the first 17-year-old to reach that ranking milestone since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007.
She is the youngest woman to win a WTA 1000/Premier event since the development of this tournament category in 2009. Including WTA Tier 1 events prior to this, she is the youngest champion since Maria Sharapova in Tokyo, in 2005.
In a unique winner’s speech, she went through the traditional thank-yous before concluding: “I would like to thank me. I know what I have been dealing with, and I just want to thank me for always believing in me. I want to thank me for never quitting and always dealing with the pressure. Today was not easy but I chose to be there 100 per cent so I thank myself for that.”
“I was hella nervous”
Earlier on, in the on-court interview, she said: “I set a goal for myself to be Top 10 by the end of the year, and it’s just February and I have already made it, so this is something incredible for me, and I’m just super happy with the way I was playing today.
“I was hella nervous, I think you could see during the match, all those double-faults [five compared to Tauson’s four], mistakes, I’m just really happy that I could manage and deal with the pressure, and now it just feels amazing.”
She added that she had been telling herself to play one point at a time, saying: “Honestly, it was hard, because all those thoughts were coming into my mind. The first set, I feel a bit lucky. This is something I dreamt of and now my dream came true. I’m speechless right now.”
In a maiden WTA 1000 final for either player, the two former junior world No 1s met for the first time on tour.
In a close opening set, Andreeva stretched her legs in the tiebreak, taking it 7-1 just as the clock ticked past the hour mark.
And she got the early break in the second set to take a 3-1 lead that a dispirited Tauson could not claw back – despite multiple break point opportunities in the following game.
The 17-year-old signed off in style on her second championship point, on her own racquet, underlining a good day on serve, winning 62 per cent of points compared to her opponent’s 50 per cent. Andreeva also hit 12 winners on the forehand and 10 on the backhand (compared to Tauson’s nine and seven respectively).
Tauson, five years older than her opponent, will also reach a new career-high ranking as she breaks into the Top 30.
