As 2025 begins, Mirra Andreeva says she’s smiling more, and it’s thanks to the International Tennis Hall of Famer who has only been her coach for less than a year. Leading up to the semi-finals of the WTA 500 Brisbane International to begin her season, the 17-year-old says Conchita Martinez’s “positivity” is chief among the lessons she has already learned from the former Wimbledon champion.
“Well, I guess I’m known, I’m the person who thinks negatively most of the time. Even last year, at the beginning of the year. Now I notice that it was not good, the way I thought, the way I approached matches, what kind of thoughts I had during the match, Andreeva said this week, where she beat Anna Blinkova, Linda Noskova and Ons Jabeur without losing a set.
“When we started working together, she definitely brought positivity. Now when I miss, like a year ago, “Oh, my God, I can’t play tennis, why am I doing this?” If I compare myself to today, I would say: Well, it’s okay. It was a good mistake. We continue to work. For example, that’s the difference.
Since her WTA breakthrough in 2023, where she was named the tour’s most impressive newcomer, Andreeva has continued on a steady upward trajectory to her current spot of world number 16, and last year became the youngest semi-finalist at a Grand Slam in almost three decades when she reached the final four at Roland Garros.
With her 18th birthday approaching in April, the removal of age restrictions on the number of tournaments she can enter, and guidance from Martinez, all signs point to even bigger things for the prodigious young talent over the course of the next 12 months.
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