Final with sequel: how Andreeva and Schneider became the second duet of world tennis

The women's doubles final at the super tournament in Miami turned out to be awkward. The game was supposed to end in less than an hour, but due to a rain break and the concentration of the favorites, it lasted a total of more than eight hours. Fortunately, only the spectacle turned out to be spoiled, but not the result. Despite the difficulties, Mirra Andreeva and Diana Schneider still broke their rivals, making the first adult victory in their careers at the "thousandth" among duets. Taking into account Mirra's previous personal trophies in Dubai and Indian Wells, we can say that the young star's winning streak continues. Although, of course, the current success in pairs in Florida does not have the same resonance as the singles title.

Thanks to the organizers

At the award ceremony, our girls finally legalized their nickname MiDi (short for Myrrh and Diana) by writing Midi Champs (MiDi champions) on the camera — Myrrh wrote the first word, Diana wrote the second, and then drew a heart. For the Russian duo, created on the eve of the 2024 Olympics, this is the second title after the January success at the WTA-500 tournament in Brisbane. Although winning the "thousandth" is certainly more prestigious and noticeable to the fans. Among other things, she earned $457,000 in prize money for two (for comparison, Arina Sobolenko will receive $1.1 million before taxes for the singles title) and helped advance in the doubles rankings. Now the Russians will be among the "seeded" at major tournaments.

In her victory speech, a tired Mirra was very laconic: she thanked her team and wished the rivals good luck in the future. But Diana gave a monologue for a few minutes.

"First of all, I would like to thank the audience who have waited so long to support us," said Schneider. — I would like to congratulate Kristina and Mia, you have a great week behind you. It was a great day and a great ending. I hope everyone enjoyed the match. Thanks to my partner — when you perform with her, it's really crazy. We enjoyed playing together, and I hope that we will continue to inspire each other to play good tennis. Thank you to my family for coming to Miami and supporting me. Thanks to the organizers — they did a great job. And special thanks to those who dried the court — it was fun.

The joke about drying the court was very relevant, because for six hours the audience watched people on the court with industrial vacuum cleaners, which allowed rainwater to soak into the expensive hardboard and spoil the playing surface. There is no roof over the courts in Miami, so the last day of the tournament was in danger of disruption due to precipitation. It's not that the water from the sky causes great discomfort to the players, but on a wet court, especially on the marking lines, it's very easy to slip and get injured. Therefore, after the first three games of the women's doubles final, the supervisor decided to stop the meeting. The time for the resumption of the match was constantly shifting, and the rain did not stop, completely exhausting both the tennis players and the audience. In the end, the sun came out, a rainbow appeared, and the crumpled match was completed, although not at all in the way it began.

Rain doesn't help

Mirra and Diana won the first three games very easily before the rain. Of course, they had some difficulties with their pitches. But it seemed like a little more pressure, and the rivals would fall apart completely. The class of participants in the finals was simply incomparable, because before Miami, Buksha and Kato had not won tournaments, or even individual matches. The Spaniard looked especially lost. However, the forced break disrupted the victorious mood of the Russians, but Kristina and Mia began to pick up the keys to the game of our stars. The advantage in the first game was still enough to keep the lead after the exchange of breaks, but at the end of the second set Mirra and Diana started having serious problems.

In the second game, Andreeva and Schneider took the lead twice with breaks, served for the match with the score 6:5, and were two draws away from the title in the tiebreak, but eventually lost the set. Such a turn could completely unsettle the Russians. But, fortunately, in pairs with a score of 1:1, not the third set is played, but a super break of up to ten points. In this format, the superiority of our tennis players proved to be undeniable. Mirra's confident serve and Diana's excellent left-handed forehand determined the outcome of the decisive segment of the match. Kato and Buksh didn't stand a chance. It remains a mystery how this pair managed to beat out the best duo on the planet in the semifinals, Katerina Sinyakova (Czech Republic) and Taylor Townsend (USA). If it hadn't been for the rain break, the final would have been a one-goal game.

MiDi will now take second place in the championship race, following Sinyakova and Townsend. In the annual ranking, Diana became 14th, and Mirra - 18th, which will allow girls to be among the "seeded" at major tournaments, avoiding meeting with strong rivals. However, everything is relative in pairs. For example, Erin Rutliff (New Zealand) and Garbiella Dabrowski (Canada), who won last season, have already won four tournaments in a row this year. Another promising pair, Irina Khromacheva (Russia) and Anna Danilina (Kazakhstan), does not shine, and Olympic champions from Italy, Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, won the "thousandth" in Doha and failed twice in the USA. In general, the moment to win the doubles major is very favorable for Andreeva and Schneider.

Actually, the Grand Slam title after the trophy at the millennial is the next goal for our heroines. Another thing is that Mirra strives for the same thing in the individual competition, and both goals go badly together. Of course, there have been cases in the history of tennis when the same tennis player won the majors in both doubles and singles. But more than ten matches at the top level in two weeks is a huge strain on the body. There is a high probability that in case of reaching the singles semifinals, for example, at Roland Garros, Andreeva will withdraw from the doubles tournament, as happened last year. However, we still have to live to see this situation. In the meantime, we should be happy for the winners of Paris 2024, who have reached a new milestone by overcoming many difficulties in Miami.