"I didn’t feel anything other than excitement and a lot of adrenaline to come back here" - Mirra Andreeva brushes off pressure amid looming title defence at Indian Wells

A lot of players would be very nervous if they were to come into a tournament with 1000 ranking points on the line. That is most certainly not the case for Mirra Andreeva who is relishing the chance to defend her title while enjoying her time in the spotlight.

This has reflected on the court with a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing over Solana Sierra at Indian Wells. Aside from one game where Andreeva faced four break points, it was an absolute breeze. She stormed to glory inside just 49 minutes, dropping just two points in the final four games as she destroyed her Argentine opponent.

Before she talked about her victory to the Tennis Channel, there was a guest appearance. "Her name is Resi. This is her first appearance in the media, so she’s probably very nervous… and very active as well," she said.

After admiring the dog, Andreeva got back to talking tennis, lamenting the conditions for making it a tougher match than she would have wanted despite the result. "Today was a pretty tricky match for me because the conditions were also difficult with all the wind. I felt like I managed to adjust my game pretty well to the conditions, because the wind was constantly changing direction. So I’m just pretty happy with how I played today, and super happy to come back to this amazing place."

This time 12 months ago, Andreeva was unbeatable. She took down the competition in Dubai before repeating those heroics in California to win a brace of WTA 1000 titles on the spin. This incredible achievement by a 17-year-old Andreeva proved why she was getting so much hype.

Fast forward a year and it seems her career has stalled slightly. Failure to qualify for the WTA Finals was a huge blow, and she is now in danger of falling to the lower ends of the top 10 if she fails to recoup the majority of the points she collected last year, with a quarterfinal loss in Dubai to the hands of Amanda Anisimova a painful pill to swallow.

However, she is not letting it get to her with a sense of excitement swirling round amid her return to Indian Wells. "Honestly, there was more excitement than nerves. I thought I would be super stressed and super nervous before coming back here. I was thinking about defending my points since French Open," she commented.

"But when I arrived here and saw my pictures all over the place, I don’t know—it felt like everyone was waiting for me to come back. It’s such a nice feeling. I didn’t feel anything other than excitement and a lot of adrenaline to come back here."

There has been some very good moments in 2026. The Russian started the year with a bang when she stormed to glory in the Adelaide International, looking like she was playing at a really high level.

"I think the start of the year was pretty good. After that it was also not bad, but not exactly where I want it to be," she analysed. "Still, it could have been much worse."

Overall, she is satisfied where her game is and possibly going. "I’m happy with how my game is developing. I’m also happy to see how the work we’ve been putting in on the practice court is showing up in matches. I can see the results, and that gives me a lot of positives."

The thrill of stepping onto the court is something that she looks forward to every time. "Honestly, I’m just very excited to play every match I have. I can’t wait to play the next one. We don’t play doubles tomorrow, so I’ll just have to practice."

Obviously, the offseason for Andreeva ended slightly earlier than she was hoping from a singles point of view. While she did travel to Riyadh to play in the doubles, the frustration of missing out on the singles event was a painful one.

It was a time where she wanted to hear the right things from her team around her. "People like to say a lot of different things. They have faith in you and believe in you, which is nice, but sometimes it can have a different impact on you."

The 18-year-old has learned to block out some of these comments and focus on her own game. "When people start talking about you in many different ways, I just think: okay, you keep talking and I’ll focus on my own thing and what I have to do. Honestly, I’d rather people talk about me than not talk about me at all."

The preparations for 2026 were then underway. "After the season finished, I had a conversation with my coach Conchita Martínez about what we wanted to work on during the preseason and what we needed to improve. The preseason was long and hard—I’m just happy it’s over."

She remained secretive about her plans. "Whatever we were working on… I’m not going to tell you. But I can slowly see the results on court, and that’s what makes me happy."

Andreeva is now one step closer to defending her title, although that is a long way off for now. The next chance she has to get closer to glory is when she faces Katerina Siniakova, who got to this stage after dumping out Leylah Fernandez.

That will not be immediately on the mind of Andreeva, who is afforded a day off due to the tournament being extended to 12 days. "Tomorrow I think we have a practice court around 12. I’ll come about an hour before to warm up—although if it were up to me I’d probably come only 20 minutes before," she explained.

"After practice we’ll have lunch, I’ll do some treatment, and then I’ll probably leave the site around 4. I’ll go back to the house, relax, and maybe watch some TV series. But I’ll probably just stick to tennis—that’s what I usually do."

To switch off from tennis, Andreeva has immersed herself in a plethora of TV series. "I finished watching Bridgerton, and right now I’m on season eight of Formula 1: Drive to Survive," she said. "My fitness coach got me addicted to that series, so that’s what I’m watching on Netflix." That was not the only Formula 1 show she enjoyed, sharing her love for the F1 Movie. "I watched it on the plane—oh my God, I loved it. It was so good. Brad Pitt… oh my God," she concluded.