17-year-old Mirra Andreeva continues to make history after reaching final of Indian Wells with victory over Iga Świątek
Mirra Andreeva booked her spot in the Indian Wells final by beating Iga Świątek. Mark J. Terrill/AP CNN —
Mirra Andreeva etched her name into the history books once again by reaching the final of Indian Wells.
The 17-year-old beat two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Świątek 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-3 in their semifinal on Friday.
In doing so, Andreeva became the youngest player to advance to the Indian Wells final since Kim Clijsters in 2001. She also became the fifth player to reach this stage before turning 18 years old since the tournament’s inception in 1989; the other four players to do so are Clijsters, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis and Serena Williams.
“After she literally killed me in the second set, I was just (like), well, ‘Okay, might just try to fight,’” Andreeva said after her semifinal victory over Świątek. “There is not much I could do about it. She was playing amazing. And I just kind of decided to grind and fight for every point. It doesn’t matter how I put the ball in. But I have to put it in.
“So I just try to do everything and in the end, it was not too bad.”
Friday’s victory was Andreeva’s 11th in a row as she continues her meteoric rise. But world No. 2 Świątek provided a stiff test for the ascendant Russian.
There was little to separate the two players during the first set, with both players hitting more winners than unforced errors. The serves of both helped keep them on track, with Andreeva not even facing a break point during the opening set.
Eventually, after 56 minutes of high-level action, it was Andreeva who was able to come up big in the key moments to take an early lead.
“I just felt like, I don’t know why I felt so much confidence, and I felt like I’m going to go and play the tiebreak like it’s the last tiebreak of my life,” Andreeva said. “So I just went for all my shots. My serve was great, and, you know, just felt super comfortable and super confident during the tiebreak. I kind of played on a roll.”
However, Świątek showed why she’s a multiple-time grand slam winner, comfortably leveling the scores in the second set. Andreeva credited Świątek for outplaying her, while describing the second set as a “bit weird.”
Świątek lost to Andreeva for the second time in as many tournaments. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
But in a manner which belied her age, Andreeva refocused in the decisive set by breaking her Polish opponent twice in the first five games and ran away to clinch her second victory over Świątek in as many tournaments.
Andreeva’s appearance in Sunday’s final – where she will face world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka – will be her second in a row having become the youngest ever player to win a WTA 1000 title when she lifted the trophy at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last month.
Andreeva is coached by Conchita Martínez who lost twice in the Indian Wells final during her playing days, something the world No. 11 is hoping to avoid.
“I know my coach lost in the finals — I’m going to try to be better than her,” Andreeva said with a smile. “I’m going to try to do it and we’re going to see how it will go. Of course, she has a lot of experience and I hope she’ll give me some advice.”