It can be all too easy to assume Mirra Andreeva's education is all one-way traffic from esteemed former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez.
The latter, after all, has somewhat more experience in years on tour, first as a major winner and later as the Grand Slam-winning coach of fellow Spaniard Garbine Muguruza.
The 17-year-old Andreeva – determined on court, cheeky and refreshingly earnest off it – provided assurance following her 6-3 6-3 opening victory over Marie Bouzkova at Australian Open 2025 that the learning was not strictly one-directional.
“I would say now she has a better sense of humour with me,” Andreeva said. “Before I would say that it was not so good. It was okay and now when she’s with me everyone always is laughing at her jokes so thanks to me, yes.”
Last year on debut, the 2023 junior Australian Open finalist upstaged sixth seed Ons Jabeur en route to the fourth round before Martinez was added to the team in April.
Her second-week foray at Melbourne Park was merely a hint of bigger things to come at Roland Garros where she became the youngest Grand Slam singles semifinalist since Martina Hingis at the 1997 US Open.
The Swiss former world No.1 is the former player to whom the cerebral and crafty Andreeva is most often compared.
“I always like the way Martina Hingis was playing,” Andreeva said. “I have seen some similarities, I would say. She's also playing smart. I would say she played smart and I'm also playing smart as her … I think that the difference is that she was never afraid to come in and finish the point and be more aggressive.
“Now I'm just starting to learn how to do it. The first matches of the year I'm starting to, I'm trying to force myself to finish the point at the net or to go, to step in the court.”
In a first meeting against world No.46 Bouzkova, Andreeva was up against it from the get-go, forced to end a point several times over just to penetrate her opponent’s brick-wall counter-attacks.
The teenager’s net skills delivered the crucial break in the seventh game, moments before the roof closed and the skies outside opened, and she broke again to take the opening set after 44 minutes.
Momentum proved difficult to consolidate in the second set, but in one of the most physical games of the contest, including a 25-shot rally that the Czech ended with a forehand winner, Andreeva finally edged ahead 5-3 and went on to set up a second-round clash against Poland’s Australian Open 2023 semifinalist Magda Linette or Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.
There were smiles all round – Martinez included – as her young charge made several digs at her expense.
Andreeva later confirmed her coach was a master of setting boundaries between the required serious moments in practice and the light-hearted instances when the work was done.
“I don't really like to be very serious. I always try to smile and laugh,” Andreeva said. “I don't know, it's just easier like this. Actually, I was surprised in the beginning that she's also pretty much like me.
“Since we first started working together, I have noticed that she's always also trying to say a joke or just laugh sometimes … I really like the way our relationship is now improving day by day, and I also like that she's still separating those things when we're on court.
“We try to be serious, we try to work, but as soon as we get off the court, we always try to joke around and laugh, so our atmosphere is not very serious and not strict.”