Tennis courts and controversies often go hand in hand, and the ongoing China Open has been no exception. Players have not only clashed on the court but the tensions have persisted even after the matches, creating quite a buzz. The latest name added to this list is the Russian star Mirra Andreeva. The 17-year-old came up with a surprising reaction after her defeat against Qinwen Zheng, leaving fans and fellow players curious.

The Russian sensation played against Zheng in the quarterfinals and faced a baffling defeat. Despite losing the first set, Zheng roared back and defeated Andreeva in a three-setter, 5-7, 6-0, 6-4. In the third set too, Zheng was 2-4 down to Andreeva but she quickly put her claws back in. However, what followed was a surprising gesture from both the players. 

Convening with the usual conventions, both players headed to shake hands after the match. But it was spotted that the gesture was not friendly enough. Highlighting the same, tennis journalist and commentator Jose Morgado took to his X account and wrote, “Olympic champ and local superstar Zheng Qinwen comes back from 2-4 down in the 3rd set to beat Mirra Andreeva 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 and reach the semifinals in Beijing (WTA 1000). She will face Karolina Muchova tomorrow. (cold handshake).” While the Russian star did shake hands, she did not look at Zheng and was spotted looking in another direction. 

This quickly captured the attention of the community with people pointing out the behavior of Andreeva. However, this is not the first time that Andreeva has engaged in such a cold-hearted gesture. Playing against Madison Keys at Wimbledon last year, the Russian player witnessed a controversial defeat in the fourth round.

Andreeva was warned for hurling her racquet after losing in the second set and received a point penalty that gave Madison Keys a match point. While she saved the point, she could not win the match and lost it in three sets, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2. However, Andreeva did not fail to express her protest and claimed that she did not throw the racquet but slid it, which resulted in the entire incident. While her defense was in vain, she denied shaking hands with the umpire after the match, and said, “She didn’t do a right decision for me. That’s why I didn’t want to shake hands [with] her.” But despite these unwelcoming moments, Andreeva has made some sensational progress this year.

Mirra Andreeva etches her name on new WTA record since 2006

Mirra Andreeva has sparked some great discussions in the arena with her sensational skills. She has made remarkable progress and has played several grand stage matches including the French Open Semi-final. She also won the title at the Iasi Open. But besides her talent, Andreeva has now etched her name on yet another significant record, that has never been broken since 2006. 

With her latest match at the China Open quarterfinals, the teenager will become the youngest player to be ranked inside the Top 20 since 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova in October 2006 and the youngest to crack the Top 20 for the first time since Vaidisova in October 2005, per WTA tennis.com. As she makes this progress, she reveals an interesting motivational factor. 

Speaking about her success, Andreeva said, “I’ve never had any pets. And my mum told me, ‘Well, if you’re Top 20 I might be able to get you a dog.’ I now have the chance to buy a dog whenever I want!” As the season progresses, it would be interesting to see if the youngster continues her significant run in other tournaments as well.