Despite Being Just 17, Mirra Andreeva Hilariously Calls Herself “Old” in a Cheeky Revelation

“In the end when you don’t think about what’s going to happen, it always ends up being one of the best tournaments of your career.” Mirra Andreeva expressed her honest feelings ahead of an awaited final in Dubai on Saturday. Fortunes can turn real quick on the tennis court. And who knows it better than the 17-year-old tennis phenom? Just when it seemed her 2025 season was going dull, following an early exit at the Qatar Open last week, the 2024 French Open semifinalist appears to have stunned herself. On Friday, she pulled off a huge upset, eliminating World No.7 Elena Rybakina, and became the youngest WTA 1000 finalist since the format’s inception in 2009.

But Andreeva is not all about pushing herself on the court to give the best performance. Sometimes, she can be a little funny too! She recently teased her cheeky side ahead of the anticipated championship encounter in Dubai. In a press conference, Andreeva was asked about her mindset and how it has changed in the last two years since she began competing professionally, especially to tackle expectations and the pressure of winning every time.

The 17-year-old said, “Well, I would say that when I first started playing WTA tournaments, nobody expected anything from me. So I didn’t have any pressure. I was just going out on the court, and I was just playing. If it doesn’t happen or if it doesn’t work, if I lose the match, everyone was still happy with my level and with the way I played.”

So, how have the circumstances changed now? While she was giving her explanation, Andreeva ended up showcasing her unintentionally funny side. “Now, when I think…it’s been two years now already? Oh my god, old.” Yes, she’s just 17, but it appears she was finding it hard to recall the time she began competing professionally. After realizing it, she just began laughing at herself while making a few reporters chuckle as well.

But she regained herself quickly to emphasize her approach to perceiving the tournaments. Describing how people have high expectations from her nowadays, she said that they “are saying, ‘yeah she’s gonna be number one, she will win this time, she’s going to be great.’ That’s another thing we worked on with my psychologist.”

So is she feeling affected by the pressure? Not really. Expanding on this aspect, she said, “People are saying this because they want to put pressure on me. And they put pressure on me because probably they are afraid of the way I play.”

“So it’s easier for me to think that. Then it helps me to go on the court with kind of anger.” Simply put, she’s not trying to prove to others “that I really can do it, but to prove myself that I am strong enough to handle the pressure and to really win these high-quality matches.”

After becoming the youngest semifinalist at a Slam in a long time, at the Roland Garros last season, Andreeva’s been touted as the next big tennis superstar. Her rise in the WTA rankings is proof of that. She’s already on the brink of entering the top 10. Tennis figures like Serena Williams’ childhood trainer and legendary coach Rick Macci believe Andreeva can “take up Residency in the top 5 this year. Near future will visit number one and hang out in that neighborhood for a decade,” he wrote in a post on his X account on Saturday.

In the last few events, since the 2024 French Open, she’s made deep runs on most occasions. For example, she reached the QF round at the Cincinnati Masters and the China Open. Then, at the Ningbo Open, she was the finalist but failed to win against Daria Kasatkina. Even this year, Andreeva began her journey on a good note with a semifinal appearance at the Brisbane International. Only at the Australian Open and the Qatar Open, she failed to impress. But now she’s got the chance to shine brightly and etch her name in history books. But how’s she feeling going into the final in Dubai?

Mirra Andreeva focusing on playing her ‘best tennis’ on Saturday

For the uninitiated, Mirra Andreeva didn’t drop a set in Dubai throughout her campaign this week until she reached the semis. She beat the likes of Marketa Voundrousova, Peyten Stearns, and former World No.1 Iga Swiatek. The five-time Slam winner didn’t have an answer against Andreeva on Thursday. The teenager managed to cause an upset in straight sets with a score line of 6-3, 6-3.

Only during her SF encounter against 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina did Andreeva lose a set. Despite that, she held her nerves and eventually beat the former World No.3 with a score line of 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. “It was a bit hard after the second set,” she said during the post-match conference, as reported by WTA’s website on Friday.

“I don’t think I had any break points, but I just felt like I was very close. I was right there with her. In the end, I had few flashbacks to our last match in 2023. So I was like, ‘No, this is not happening again. Mirra, c’mon.'” Two years ago, when they first met at the China Open, Rybakina had the last laugh as she beat her 2-6,6-4,6-1 in the R16 encounter. With the latest victory, Andreeva has leveled the h2h tally 1-1.

Speaking of the final in Dubai, Andreeva wasn’t able to believe that she made it to the title clash. “Honestly, it’s crazy because, at first, I was not very positive before coming to Dubai. I was like, ‘OK, well, I’m just going to play,'” reported WTA’s website on Friday. But she did admit that simply concentrating on giving her best might be the key to her success. She continued, “As always when you don’t think about how you’re going to play, you just play your best tennis. In the end, it’s one of your best tournaments.”

Mirra Andreeva is going up against Denmark’s Clara Tauson. The latter is also in her first WTA 1000 final. Both players haven’t met each other in a professional match yet. So it will be intriguing to see who emerges victorious on Saturday.