Mirra Andreeva is on cloud 9 at the moment. The Russian sensation followed her win over Iga Swiatek with another massive achievement at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. Earlier today, she defeated Elena Rybakina in a tense semifinal encounter and became the youngest player to reach the first WTA 1000 finals, since the format’s inception in 2009. It was an inspiring performance from Andreeva as she overcame the loss of momentum in the second set to turn things around for her. In the process, she also earned special praise from tennis legend, Boris Becker.

Andreeva is 17 right now, and she is achieving big things in her career. Back in 1985, Becker was also a 17-year-old tennis prodigy who caught the limelight with one of the biggest wins of his career. As a 17-year-old, he went on to win the 1985 Wimbledon Championships and became one of the youngest champions in the tournament’s history. Thus, Becker remembered his massive feat while heaping praise on young Andreeva.

Taking to his official X handle, Becker wrote, “Never underestimate 17-year-old players … Well done Mirra !” Indeed, Becker was confident in the ability of 17-year-olds to achieve big wins during this age and he backed Andreeva after she reached the summit clash in Dubai.

While the win over Rybakina gave Andreeva her first entry into a final of a WTA 1000 tournament, it was her third final overall, having reached the summit clashes at Iasi Open and Ningbo Open. Further, it was also her sixth win over a top 10 player, showing her dominance in big matches.

After becoming the youngest WTA 1000 finalist, Andreeva said, “Honestly, when I lost my serve and fell behind 1-3 while she was serving, I thought: ‘Well, okay, I’ve had a good week, it’s all good, it’s been a good match, so I’ll try to fight for each point and we’ll see, but she’s serving so well that… okay.’ I guess that mindset helped me because I let go, kept fighting for every point.”

Further, Andreeva is also getting some crucial help from her psychologist in her team. Recently, she revealed how that has caused a massive uptick in her winning mentality.

Mirra Andreeva credits new tips from her psychologist

More often than not, Andreeva has found herself in some tense moments during her matches. As a result, when things didn’t go her way, Andreeva felt angered by the past and lost momentum. However, working with a sports psychologist helped her deal with her anger issues and she could come back stronger.

Talking about it, she said, “I have some new tips. I have some new advices, in a way, how to work with my anger inside, what to do when I don’t feel great, how to maintain my level when I feel great, how to keep being me. For example when it was 1-1, I was serving. When she broke me, she did three return winners. There was not much I could do about it. I just had to accept it. Been also working on acceptance when something doesn’t go my way.”

Andreeva will face the winner of the match between Clara Tauson and Karolina Muchova in the summit clash of the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. Can she win the biggest title of her career in Dubai? Let us know your views in the comments below.