Big game changer: how Mirra Andreeva won the title in Adelaide

Russia's first racket Mirra Andreeva won the fourth title of her career, defeating 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko in 64 minutes in the final of the WTA 500 tournament in Adelaide. The first success after ten months without trophies should inspire our young star the day before the start of the main draw of the Australian Open. Conchita Martinez's ward unsuccessfully started the Adelaide International final by giving up her serve, but then rallied and won nine games in a row, prejudging the outcome of the match. At the award ceremony, a native of Krasnoyarsk came out in a hoodie with the inscription "Want To Thank Myself. Mirra" ("I want to thank myself. Mirra") and confirmed this joke in the champion's speech, paying tribute to his perseverance and luck.

Andreeva won her fourth career title.

The 18-year-old Russian, who scared everyone at the end of last season with a series of hopeless defeats, again gave rise to enthusiastic comments. Under the guidance of the award-winning Spanish tennis player Conchita Martinez, Mirra visually increased her physical strength, and at some point it began to seem that the coach had "pumped up" her ward. Against the background of changes in the style of play, Andreeva had psychological problems, from which she had to get out in the offseason. In order to escape from the crisis, our young star sacrificed doubles, and now these efforts have borne fruit — the fourth singles title and the first since March last year. This is very important for restoring psychological confidence and building trust in the coaching staff.

Among other things, Mirra received 500 ranking points, which allowed her to return to seventh place on the WTA list and beat Jasmine Paolini. Of course, on the eve of the "major" such permutations do not matter. But great success, as you know, always consists of small things. On the other hand, participating in an official tournament just before the start of the TBS is a big risk. The level of competition at such starts is not the highest (many stars are preparing directly for the "Helmet"), but they still have to spend a lot of physical and emotional strength. These costs are not always justified — many of the winners of the "prequels" then fail in the early stages. Although there is an example of American Madison Keys, who won in Adelaide last year and then became the champion of the Australian Open.

Mirra showed up at the Adelaide International at the last moment after losing in the quarterfinals at the Brisbane Centennial. The Russian's rivals this time were not the top ones. But the matches against Czech Maria Bouzkova, Australian Maya Joint and Russian Diana Schneider turned out to be amazing — not a single set lost. Andreeva came out on the rise for the title match against the young Canadian Victoria Mboko. Both finalists have known each other since their junior years, and their careers are similar in many ways. The daughter of immigrants from DR Congo pleasantly surprised her last year by winning the home thousandth in Montreal, but then she got into a gambling hole, from which she got out only by November. We can say that both girls are rising stars of the WTA, although the Russian woman certainly has more experience of important matches. On the other hand, in Adelaide, Mboko eliminated last year's champion Madison Keys on the way to the finals.

"I want to thank myself. Myrrh"

Victoria went into the match with a bandaged right leg, but that didn't stop her from rushing into the attack. However, Mirra made a break in the very first game, but without realizing it, she missed a retaliatory attack. The Canadian made a bet on long draws. At first, it seemed that Andreeva had no antidote to her opponent's stable play on the back line — flat shots with high rebound did not create any problems for Victoria. However, Mboko's concentration was enough for only three games, then mistakes began to fall, which predetermined the outcome of the match. In a short match, Victoria scored 30 unforced and three doubles against 11-1 for the Russian.

Mirra got 0-3 at the start of the match, but then took nine games in a row. By the beginning of the second set, the Canadian's game had completely collapsed, and in order to somehow overload herself, she resorted to a hackneyed trick - she called a physiotherapist to the court. For some reason, the doctor measured the girl's blood pressure, wiped her body with a cold sponge and kindly allowed the match to continue. After that, there was almost a turning point in the game — Victoria finally took her serve, and the Russian slipped with the score 3:1, dropped her racket and almost twisted her leg. I remembered a similar episode at last year's thousandth anniversary in Montreal, after which Mirra was out for a week and a half. However, this time it blew over — our athlete returned the match to its previous course and confidently sealed the victory, taking 12 of the last 13 games.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be 100% ready," Mboko spread her hands at the award ceremony. — Nevertheless, I would like to sincerely congratulate my opponent on an amazing match and a well-deserved victory. Mirra, you played incredibly well.

Mirra also thanked Victoria for the great tennis and wished to meet with the Canadian many more times in the final stages.

— In Adelaide, I felt the serious support of the audience, thank you for being so warmly received, — said the Russian. — Special thanks to my team — I had physical problems shortly before the final, but I managed to overcome them. During the offseason, I worked very hard under Conchita's daily supervision — without this, the current victory would not have been possible. Mentally, I've changed some things in my approach to the game. It wasn't easy. Thanks to everyone and, of course, to myself.

Here it should be recalled that gratitude to oneself is a special feature of Mirra, which she came up with after winning the tournament in Indian Wells last March. Then, in the champion's speech at the thousandth anniversary, the Russian woman made a reference to the 2019 track of the scandalous rapper Snoop Dogg "I Wanna Thank Me" ("I want to thank myself"). Now the slightly modified quote is "I Want To Thank Myself. Mirra" in the form of a print appeared on the sweatshirt of a Russian woman, which she wore to the award ceremony in Adelaide. At this event, Andreeva did not look tired and was very inspired — she chatted and joked a lot.

How all this will affect the prospects of the Russian first racket at the first Grand Slam tournament, we will find out in just a few days. In the first round, Mirra will have a very difficult match against a very experienced Croatian Donna Vekic. Now the 29-year-old former Wimbledon semifinalist and 2024 Olympic vice-champion is recovering from another injury, but she is capable of causing trouble to almost any opponent. At the end of the finals in Adelaide, Andreeva caught the courage and acted very impressively. However, this happened at a time when the outcome of the duel was practically a foregone conclusion. But for now, the big question is whether Mirra will be able to show such tennis in more difficult circumstances, overcoming setbacks and pressure from the stands.