Mirra Andreeva reveals she has sought help to deal with pressure
Mirra Andreeva has admitted the weight of expectation her success has created around her has presented her with additional challenges as she looks to adapt to a new reality.
Andreeva started this year as the rising star of women’s tennis and she has lived up to her billing by serving up some notable successes, including her first WTA 1000 title in Indian Wells in March.
That success helped to fire Andreeva into the top 10 of the WTA Rankings, but it also singled her out as one of the new big scalps in women’s tennis and the 18-year-old admits that has given her extra challenges.
“Obviously, it’s not easy to lose, and I don’t think a lot of people like to lose,” said Andreeva.
“When I look back in my season, I think that my season was not bad, starting from the beginning of the year. So honestly, I just tried to stick to the positive moments that I’ve had on the court.
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“You cannot win every match that you play. You cannot win every tournament that you play. So it’s kind of a normal thing to lose and obviously sometimes when you’re super close to win the match, it hurts a little bit more. It takes a little bit more time to kind of step back and just forget about that.
“It’s just life. It’s just how tennis works. And with time, I learned how to kind of accept it and move on from tough losses.”
When asked about how she deals with pressure and the inflated expectations around her after she broke into the top 10 of the rankings, Andreeva admitted she gets help from outside sources, with her experienced coach and former player Conchita Martinez a key part of her set-up.
“I try to be open about everything that I feel, and I feel like it’s important to talk about,” she stated.
“So in the beginning, right after, when I started to feel it (pressure), I had a little bit of struggle to really open up and to say all the things that I feel.
“It took some time for me to finally say the things that I actually feel. And I opened up to my psychologist, to Conchita, to my team. They all know what I’m going through, what I’m feeling, and they were just trying to help me go through that.
“We were talking a lot. I was looking at myself as well. So yeah, all the things together, I guess, and a lot of work with so far. So I just hope that soon, it’s gonna pay off a little bit better, and we’ll see if it does.”
Meanwhile, Andreeva has revealed the Labubu craze caught he attention and she is not happy after losing two of the toys in Beijing last week.
Andreeva was given five Labubu’s as she played in last week’s ATP 1000 event in Beijing, but her coach Martinez has snatched a couple for herself.
“Honestly, I didn’t have a Labubu before going to Beijing, so I’m just happy that now I have five,” she added. ”
“So I also had to give to Conchita too, which I’m not really happy about, but it’s okay. I have to share. Sharing is sharing is fine!”
Andreeva will be eager to bounce back from a disappointing defeat against Britain’s Sonay Kartal as she returns to action in Wuhan looking to wrap up her spot in the end-of-season WTA Finals for the first time.
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