“I want to win a couple of Grand Slams”: Mirra Andreeva lays out her long-term ambitions

Mirra Andreeva referred to her ambitions for her career and ensured that she expects to win a couple of Grand Slams during her participation in the MGM Macau Tennis Masters. The Russian tennis player recently played an exhibition match in China – facing Alexandra Eala – and is already anticipating what the 2026 season will be.

The 18-year-old Russian rose to fame a couple of seasons ago, breaking through to the 4th round of the Madrid Open in her WTA 1000 debut. Shortly after came the third round at Roland Garros and the 4th round at Wimbledon, showing that at 16 years old she was already ready to compete with the best.

Toward the 2024 season she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal and won her first WTA 250 title at the Iasi Open. The teenager continued her ascent with a notable first half of 2025, in which she consecutively won WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells, and reached her best ranking as world No. 5.

Toward the end of the season, Andreeva seemed ready to compete in the WTA Finals, but irregular results in the final part of the season – and the great run by Rybakina in the last months – ended up leaving her out of Riyadh at the last moment. Andreeva finished the year as world No. 9, and looks like a firm candidate for the next major titles.

From an early age, Andreeva has already shown maturity on the court to challenge the best, with a total of 10 wins against top-10 tennis players. The Russian teenager will seek to establish herself at the top again and continue adding trophies at the start of 2026, where the first major challenge will be at the Australian Open in search of her first major title.

The Russian missed the first day of mixed doubles – creating a particular situation with a mixed doubles match that only featured one woman on court, Alexandra Eala alongside Jerry Shang against the two ATP players Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Wu Yibing. However, she reappeared for the second day, taking the victory over Eala 6-4, 6-2.

After her participation in the exhibition tournament, Andreeva discussed with Story 10 the long-term goals she has for her career. “Of course as every other player, I want to win a couple of Grand Slams, that would be great for me,” the world No. 9 said. “And honestly I just want to stay me, and be… I would say a player that everyone would remember for being curious on court, do whatever she wants on the court, be very interesting to watch, and always stay humble like Rafa (Nadal) said, so I just want to be a player to remember on the Tour, and I hope that I can achieve that.”

The world No. 9 will start her season at the Brisbane International, where she is the 6th seed in a draw that includes 7 top-10 players, such as Aryna Sabalenka, Amanda Anisimova, and Elena Rybakina. Then she will travel to the Adelaide International – in another tough draw with up to 8 players inside the top-15, led by Americans Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys.

Once Andreeva’s participation in both tournaments is finished, her campaign at the Australian Open will begin, where she is the 9th seed. The Russian has two previous participations in the Australian Open, being eliminated both times in the 4th round, back in the beginning of 2025 against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Andreeva also reached the final of the Aussie Open junior back in 2023, being defeated by her compatriot Alina Korneeva.