Mirra Andreeva aims sly dig at China Open crowd after Zheng Qinwen final defeat

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Pictured: Zheng Qinwen and Mirra Andreeva ahead of the China Open final
Mirra Andreeva aimed a cheeky dig at the China Open crowd

Mirra Andreeva aimed a cheeky dig at the China Open crowd following her final defeat to Zheng Qinwen on Sunday.

Olympic champion Zheng became the first Chinese player to win this WTA 1000 event in Beijing on Sunday after beating Andreeva 7-5, 6-4.

The 24-year-old, who was out for nearly six months with an elbow injury, was a wildcard for this tournament but ended up beating five seeds on her way to the title.

While Andreeva has been getting good support during her run to the final, those in the stands were firmly on Chinese star Zheng’s side, as they roared her to victory.

The French Open champion earned herself the nickname ‘Xiao Mi La’ (Little spicy Mirra) off the back of her exploits in Beijing, but she didn’t hear much of that against Zheng.

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“It’s been a very nice week playing in Beijing. Thanks to everybody who supported me throughout the whole week. I thought maybe today I would hear one Xiao Mi La but, no,” she said in her on-court interview, before laughing.

“Congrats to Qinwen and the team for a great week. Good luck for the rest of the tournaments that you play this year. Of course it’s been a very nice week. I love playing in Beijing, it’s one of my favourite tournaments and I had a very, very nice time.”

Ostensibly, the Mandarin words of Mi La sound a bit like Mirra and Xiao (little) is in reference to the fact that the 19-year-old is the younger of two Andreeva sisters, with older sibling Erika also plying her trade on tour.

Moreover, spicy in Chinese slang means having a fiery temper, something Andreeva has shown many times during her young career to date.

But as she said, after hearing that a lot in Beijing this past week or so, that was absent against Zheng.

When it was put to her in the post-match press conference that many fans were cheering for her, Andreeva replied, “Of course, I know that some people are still supporting and some people, they want to show support, I don’t know, to kind of support me. Still, it’s kind of hard to compare the support, especially today.

“I know that there were still some people out there that were cheering for me. Of course, thanks to them. It’s always very nice to hear some cheering, even when it’s not super fair, but that’s okay (smiling).”

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