(VIDEO) Mirra Andreeva repeatedly punches herself after being broken at critical time against Anisimova in Dubai

Mirra Andreeva was involved in an almighty clash against the world number six Amanda Anisimova in the quarterfinal stage of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. She was looking to defend the title that she won last year, but ultimately the mantle will be passed onto someone else after a three-set thriller resulted in her coming out second best.

It is the first of two consecutive WTA 1000 titles the 18-year-old is attempting to defend in terms of ranking points, putting a whole chunk of pressure on her shoulders. This pressure looks to have over-spilled onto the court in a fiery outburst where she took out her own frustration on herself.

From the off it was looking promising for Andreeva who stormed out into a 6-2 lead. Anisimova's level was significantly down on what spectators had expected but it would rise in the second set as she started to mount a comeback. A four-game spurt saw her move 5-2 ahead.

She was in prime position to force a level match and deciding set but back came Andreeva. She got the break back as she got back on terms with the American with the scores planted at 5-5. The momentum was in Andreeva's hands but as the pattern of the match went that does not mean an awful lot. Anisimova stopped the rut to get back to winning games before breaking to love to secure the second set.

The pair traded breaks at the start of the third set with both of them struggling to find any sort of consistency on court. Andreeva was better off as she ended up going 3-1 ahead, but it started to get a bit too much for her. She was faced with a break point by Anisimova who allowed Andreeva's return to go long. As she walked back to her chair relieved to get the set back on serve, her opponent was having a meltdown the other side of the net. Andreeva repeatedly punched her leg in anger and frustration that she let another opportunity slip, visibly upset and emotional.

She had to compose herself as Anisimova broke the serve before creating a match point. It was not converted and Andreeva broke back, commencing a three game winning streak which put her in a position to serve it out. Fate was repeated and a resilient Anisimova forced a tiebreak. It would be the two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist who raced out into a 6-2 lead before clinching her fourth match point to book a spot in a fourth WTA 1000 semi-final.

After the match Andreeva burst into tears as she packed her stuff and evacuated the court in a gut-wrenching manner. She will not be defending all of the ranking points from last year, meaning 785 points will be taken away from her overall tally.

Another 1000 will be on the line in the Indian Wells Open. Andreeva did marvellously last year to take down world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final to win back-to-back WTA 1000 titles, but it is an uphill challenge to get back to her best form.

Over the winter she worked a lot on her mindset after a woeful end to 2025 in which she failed to qualify for the WTA Finals after looking primed to be making her debut in Riyadh, just being pipped at the last second by eventual champion Elena Rybakina. Despite this, she is unable to keep her frustrations in check on court due to the pressure put on her. She will reset and go again over in the United States.