"I couldn't hit the ball": 16-year-old prodigy Mirra Andreeva details nervousness teaming with Rublev and Medvedev

Mirra Andreeva shared her feelings after playing in the World Tennis League alongside her compatriots Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, as well as the 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. The Team Eagles secured the trophy with notable performances from Andreeva in doubles.

The 16-year-old prodigy made her debut on the tour in 2023 and delivered impressive performances, finishing the year as the world No. 57. Among her notable results are reaching the fourth round at the Madrid Open, the third round at the French Open, and the fourth round at Wimbledon, along with victories against several top-20 players.

The young Russian played her last tournament in October, falling in the second round of the Hong Kong Open to the eventual champion Leylah Fernandez. Since then, Andreeva took advantage of the time without competition to participate in various year-end exhibitions, like many other WTA and ATP stars.

With the conclusion of the World Tennis League, Andreeva assessed her performance in the team tournament and admitted feeling nervous at the beginning of the competition: 'Honestly, the first day I was so nervous. I couldn't hit the ball, but I'm feeling better every day, and I'm happy that I was able to bring some points to our team,' Andreeva said.

The WTL was decided on December 24th with the final between the Eagles, featuring Andreeva, and the Kites, composed of Aryna Sabalenka, Paula Badosa, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov, and Lloyd Harris. On the last day, Andreeva first played mixed doubles with Medvedev, but they narrowly lost to the pair Badosa-Tsitsipas by 6-7(5).

In the second session, she played women's doubles, this time partnering with Kenin, and they defeated Badosa and the world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka by 7-5. The day concluded with Andrey Rublev's match, where the Russian secured the decisive games for the Eagles, who were crowned champions of the 2023 World Tennis League.