Not long ago, Mirra Andreeva was one of the world’s top junior prospects.
Now, at just 17 years of age, she’s a top-20 player on the WTA tour with a Grand Slam semifinal already under her belt.
Here are five reasons we love Andreeva, and why we’re excited to see what she can do at Australian Open 2025.
1. Her rapid rise
Less than two years ago, Andreeva was battling it out in the Australian Open 2023 girls’ singles final.
She immediately carried that winning junior-circuit form into the pro ranks, despite being ranked outside the world’s top 300.
Just three months after that AO girls’ final, she was upsetting multiple top-20 players to reach the last 16 at the Madrid Open, a WTA 1000 event. Then she reached the third round at Roland Garros and fourth round at Wimbledon – results that catapulted her into the top 100.
The stellar Grand Slam results kept coming in 2024. After reaching the last 16 at the Australian Open, she went all the way to the semifinals in Paris.
Then came her first WTA title in Iasi, Romania, a silver medal in doubles at Paris 2024, and quarterfinals at WTA 1000 events in Cincinnati and Beijing.
She’s built a stunning win-loss record of 70-25 since the start of 2023, meaning she’s won close to 75 per cent of her matches.
And she’s hit a career-high ranking of world No.16.
2. Her outstanding stats
By producing these outstanding results before turning 18, Andreeva has emulated some of the game’s great teen prodigies.
She became the youngest player since Anna Kournikova in 1998 to reach the last 16 at Slams on three different surfaces – Wimbledon’s grass, AO’s hard courts and French clay.
She’s also beaten four top-10 players this year, something only Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters have achieved this century at a younger age in one calendar year.
One of those came against then-world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the Roland Garros quarterfinals, making her the youngest major semifinalist since Martina Hingis 27 years earlier.
3. The Hingis comparison
It’s not the first time Andreeva has recalled Hingis, given her slight built, purposeful point construction and command over a variety of shots.
Such precocious talent has seen her frequently likened to the “Swiss Miss”. And she loves it.
“I actually watched a lot of her matches. I heard that people compare me to her. I really like the way she plays,” Andreeva revealed.
Former Australian pro Nicole Pratt, now Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup team coach, was extremely impressed when she watched Andreeva up close at Roland Garros.
“Andreeva, she's really good. (It’s) crazy. Her tennis IQ is very, very, very good,” Pratt confirmed.
This year, Andreeva has grown in height and physically matured, adding a more powerful dimension to her already-impressive game.
4. The Conchita connection
She’s is now being coached by Conchita Martinez, a player who frequently came up against Hingis and Pratt.
Martinez, the 1994 Wimbledon champion, has encouraged Andreeva to lean into a more aggressive style and go for her shots, telling rolandgarros.com: "It's very nice to work with her, she is open ears, she is willing to work, willing to do what it takes.”
Martinez, whose coaching CV includes guiding Garbine Muguruza to the Wimbledon title and world No.1 ranking, recognises she’s working with a special player.
“I definitely knew she was a young player to watch, she was beating very top players. When we decided on the week's trial, I did my homework and immediately could see she has a lot of potential, everybody can see,” said Martinez, who began working with Andreeva in April.
"She has a very complete game, but she also has a lot of areas she can improve. That's what I'm focusing on. I think she's doing an amazing job.”
5. Her media appearances
For all of her maturity on court, Andreeva retains a refreshingly wide-eyed, youthful persona off it.
She’s a hit in front of the camera, declaring her appreciation of Andy Murray in a must-watch Tennis Channel interview before charming reporters at Roland Garros during her press conferences.
She’s candid and reflective with the media, revealing in January that her loss in the AO 2023 junior final paved the way for her subsequent success.
“I think I will remember this match till the end of my life because it was one of the toughest losses that I’ve had,” Andreeva said. “I look back and I think maybe that I should lose this match to have everything that I have now.
“I’m grateful that this happened to me and now I can go back and improve on all the things that I didn’t possess.”
A strong result at Australian Open 2025 could represent something of a full-circle moment.