"I feel like I’m older than that, but I’m happy that the first digit is still one": Old before her time as Mirra Andreeva turns 19 amid Madrid Open run

Mirra Andreeva booked her place in the Madrid Open final for the first time with a composed 7–6, 6–0 victory over Hailey Baptiste, combining a sharp start with mental resilience in key moments.

The 19-year-old was particularly pleased with how she began the match, an area she admitted has sometimes let her down. “I was very happy with how I started the match because in previous matches I tend to start a little bit slower and sometimes let my opponents take an early lead,” she said to Tennis Channel. “Here I told myself that this is not an option, because she’s serving great and if she gets an early break or lead, it would be very hard to come back.”

That mindset translated into immediate pressure on Baptiste’s serve, despite the American’s power. “I told myself I don’t have any other choice but to try to break her first. That’s what I tried to do from game two,” Andreeva explained. “Her serve was great, very fast, I feel like it was around 195 all the time. I had trouble returning even her second serves because they bounce very high here due to the altitude.”

Despite those challenges, Andreeva stayed focused on maximising her chances. “I told myself to try to win as many points as I could on her serve, and if I had a chance to break, I would give everything to make it happen.”

The opening set proved to be a test of nerve. After letting a match point slip and facing set points in the tiebreak, Andreeva revealed her motivation came from an unlikely place. “When we got into the tiebreak, when she saved match point, got the break back, and had set points, I already saw in my head an Instagram post from Tennis Channel, ‘What a comeback!’,” she said with a smile. “So I was like, ‘Please, Mirra, don’t let that happen. I really tried to get it together and make her life miserable and complicated. I told myself that if she wins the set, she’s going to have to really work for it and earn it.” She ultimately shut the door, carrying that momentum into a dominant second set to seal victory in straight sets.

Beyond singles, Andreeva is also chasing success in the doubles draw alongside Diana Shnaider, underlining her ambition to leave Madrid with more than one title. “I’m not going to stop with my singles,” she said. “We’re playing really well together this week, and I feel like we understand each other great on the court. We play the semifinals tomorrow, and obviously we’re not going to stop, we want to win and go to the final as well. We have tough opponents, but I hope we’re also tough to play against. We’re going to give everything we have.”

The occasion was made even more special by a belated birthday gift from the Tennis Channel team, something Andreeva admitted carried sentimental value. “This bag reminds me of the first year I was here when you gave it to me for my 16th birthday,” she said. “I was wondering when that would happen again, and now I have it. It brings a lot of nice memories.”

Looking ahead to the final against Marta Kostyuk, Andreeva is expecting a very different challenge compared to their previous meeting. “We played earlier this year in Brisbane on a fast hard court, so this will be different on clay,” she said. “Here the ball bounces higher and we have more time, so I’ll try to approach the match in a new way.”

She also pointed to the importance of preparation with her team. “We’ll create a good plan together and give everything we have in the final.” Despite her growing reputation for thriving in the latter stages of tournaments, Andreeva admitted the nerves are still there, but she is learning how to channel them. “Today I felt a bit more pressure and more nervous before the match,” she said. “But I told myself I’ve already won a lot of tough matches to get here. It would be a shame to lose just because I’m nervous or not giving my best.”

Her approach is simple, if uncompromising. “If I lose, OK, my opponent played great, I’ll say ‘good job.’ But if I lose, it’s not going to be easy for my opponent. This week is about making my opponents’ lives complicated.”

Andreeva’s blend of honesty and maturity has quickly become a hallmark of her interviews, something she acknowledges with a smile. “I feel like I’m older than that,” she said when asked about her composure. “But I’m happy that the first digit is still one.”