Daria Kasatkina shares touching words for Mirra Andreeva after title win: “I’ve been calling her ‘a piece of gold’”

Daria Kasatkina showered her friend Mirra Andreeva with praise after defeating her in the final of the WTA 500 Ningbo Open. The 27-year-old has a close relationship with the teenager, whom she beat to claim her 5th WTA 500 title and return to the top-10.

Since her debut on the Tour, Andreeva has become one of the sensations of the WTA Tour. At just 17 years old, she is world No. 16 and the youngest player within the top-200. She has also claimed victories over notable players, such as during her run to the Ningbo final, where she eliminated players like Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova and Karolina Muchova.

In an exciting match, Kasatkina came back from 0-3 in the third set, won five consecutive games, and claimed the title. Russia's No. 1 player returned to the top-10 after a year in which she repeatedly came close to reaching it, consistently ranking between No. 15 and No. 11.

The new Ningbo champion expressed her admiration for Andreeva’s talent as well as their strong relationship off the court. "Mirra is an incredible girl, honestly," said Kasatkina, as per the WTA website. "It’s incredible how in one person there is a mix of a kid and maturity at the same time."

During the award ceremony, they shared a touching moment when Andreeva, while thanking her team and congratulating Kasatkina, couldn’t hold back her tears. ‘Dasha’ quickly ran to her compatriot, embraced her, and offered comfort. On Kasatkina’s YouTube channel, What the Vlog, their friendship and frequent training sessions have been shown several times.

"Her sense of humor and what she says in her native language is just hilarious. Some of the words she uses are so funny," Kasatkina added.

"She’s a very good person, and already a very good player who will get much better," the new world No. 9 commented. "For the last year I’ve been calling her ‘a piece of gold.’ But I don’t want to say too many good things because everyone is saying this, and she is so young.”

“I wish her to just keep improving every single day because I know how it feels to hear only good things every day, and then you have sky-high expectations, which are hard to manage. I hope she can go on mute and just play, and that’s enough. If she just plays, that will be enough.”

While Andreeva has ended her season in Ningbo, Kasatkina continues her last tournament of the year this week at the WTA 500 Japan Open. The 27-year-old Russian is the 3rd seed and received a bye in the first round. On Thursday, she will face McCartney Kessler in her opening match.