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The ongoing French Open produced many surprising moments, including the rising star, Mirra Andreeva! From Rafael Nadal’s first-round exit to Novak Djokovic‘s withdrawal due to injury, the most interesting of all was the women’s quarter-final. The latter saw the 2-time Grand Slam champion, Aryna Sabalenka v/s Russian teenager, Mirra Andreeva.
The fact that it was the youngster’s first Grand Slam quarterfinal and she took down the reigning Australian Open champion is a feat not many have tasted yet! And consequences followed, the youngster hogged all the light, though unintentionally. Now, after a successful French Open campaign with a semifinal exit, Andreeva is absorbing all the limelight. And the latest person she tested her fame with was the former World No.1, Bjorn Borg.
Recently, during an outing the 17-year-old met the Swedish tennis legend. Andreeva and Borg clicked a snap as a memory of their encounter which the former shared on her Instagram story. And being a teenager, the World No. 38 poked fun at the 68-year-old legend, leveraging her new glory. She hilariously captioned the picture,” A quick picture with a fan :)”
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Though it might not just be a light-hearted moment. The game displayed by Andreeva despite her young age has garnered her praise and as she said, fans.
The Russian teenager bowed out of the Roland Garros after losing the Semifinals to the Italian Jasmine Paolini in straight sets. This match was between two first-time semifinalists! The 28-year-old Paolini has always suffered an early-round exit in her professional career. But this French Open proved to be lucky for both the players. As they have left their mark on the clay court.
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via Reuters
Tennis – French Open – Roland Garros, Paris, France – June 3, 2024 Russia’s Mirra Andreeva reacts after winning her fourth round match against France’s Varvara Gracheva REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
The tennis prodigy is the youngest French Open semifinalist since 1997. Moreover, her free-spirited approach to tennis has been loved by tennis fans. Which has certainly helped her get through pressure moments on the court!
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Mirra Andreeva ‘keeps it simple‘ during the match
It’s not uncommon for players to get nervous during the match, be it Sabalenka or Gauff. And particularly when you are a first-time semifinalist in a major. So when Andreeva was asked about her approach to dealing with the match and pressure. While she focuses on the play shot by shot didn’t want to complicate things with ‘too many decisions” that come to her head.
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She narrated her on-court ordeal of thinking too much and said, “… And that’s sometimes not really good. Because I have a lot of decisions in my mind and when I change them at the last moment, always some kind of crap happens.”
The teenager said that her aim is “to keep it simple,” a mature thing to say for a 17-year-old! No wonder Bjorn Borg had a fan moment with the teenager. However it could also be the other way around, but let’s go with the tennis prodigy as she basks in her hard-earned fame.