Last year, as Mirra Andreeva approached her 17th birthday, she expressed a singular wish during an interview after her Madrid Open’s R32 match: victory. Andreeva remarkably fulfilled a part of this wish by staging a comeback from 5-2 down in the first set to defeat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the R16. This win propelled her to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal, making her the second-youngest player to achieve this milestone since 2009. Adding a touch of personal anticipation, Andreeva also mentioned her mother’s already purchased gift, saying, “Yesterday I thought she spent some money on our credit card.” In exactly 19 days, Mirra will be celebrating her 18th birthday. How does she feel?

“I’m not really looking forward to my 18th birthday, because I don’t want to grow old! I don’t want to become an adult so soon. And I don’t really expect any gifts, because I hope that I will still be playing in Madrid at that time. I will try to make a gift for myself by playing there. And if I have to play on my birthday, I will try and win that match,” Mirra Andreeva said in a recent interview.

She further added, “I don’t know if we’re going to celebrate properly. But most likely we will because my dad will be turning 50 on the same day. So maybe we’ll come up with something, go out somewhere. But I’m not sure there will be a huge celebration.” Nevertheless, Andreeva’s upcoming 18th birthday during the Madrid tournament marks a significant full-circle moment. How?

Just a few years ago, at 15, she received a wildcard entry there, igniting her remarkable ascent in professional tennis. She is now a top-10 player with three years on the senior tour. This trajectory echoes Coco Gauff’s, who also debuted at 15 and, now in her early twenties, has become a fixture on the tour despite her still-young age.

At her pre-tournament press conference at Indian Wells she playfully noted she’s outgrown the “up-and-comer” label – a sentiment that holds true given her established presence. “I don’t know. You know, of course I’m going to be turning 18 soon, so, yes, I am becoming an old woman unfortunately,” she laughed. “So yeah. Well, I don’t know if I can be an up-and-comer, I have no idea. I don’t know.” 

Later on, she was also asked to share her thoughts on two of the biggest gifts that she has made for herself recently by winning the matches against Swiatek and Sabalenka at the Indian Wells. In reply to that, she added, “I like the fact that in every match Sabalenka plays, she is always aggressive and puts a lot of pressure on her opponents.” Andreeva believes this is something that she can learn from the world number one. What about the Pole?

Interesting Fact: With her recent win at Indian Wells, she became the youngest champion at this tournament since Serena Williams (1999). Not only that, she was also the youngest player to defeat both world number one and number two in a single WTA event since 1990. No other player since Martina Hingis (1997) won consecutive WTA 1000 events.

“As for Swiatek, I like how professional she is about everything. I’ve practiced with her and you can tell she is different. There is a lot to learn there.“

Mirra Andreeva has always cherished the moments playing against the top players in the world. For example, last year she had wished to play against Paula Badosa at the Italian Open. Although she received her belated (and perhaps unexpected) gift that time, Andreeva lost that match to the Spaniard. However, talking about facing tougher opponents, she said, “I feel like when you face a good player, you become better and you’re always challenging yourself until the last moment.”

Can Andreeva become a better version of herself in the rest of the season and clinch more big titles? 

Tennis legends look quite optimistic about Mirra Andreeva’s future

When Mirra Andreeva won the WTA 1000 title in Dubai, American tennis legend Andy Roddick showered praise on the Russian by saying, “Mirra Andreeva is going to be number one in the world at some point.” Furthermore, he heaped praise on her serving abilities and incredible movements, and also hailed her coach, Conchita Martinez, for doing an amazing job in guiding this youngster.

Then, after that, when Andreeva won the Indian Wells title, Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs came up with a bold prediction. She said that she believes Andreeva is going to be a “perennial top-five player.” Currently, Mirra Andreeva is ranked 7th in the world, but looking at her current form, her fans can surely expect something bigger in the next few months.

Talking about bigger expectations, well, Serena Williams’ childhood mentor, Rick Macci, also shared a few words on this youngster after her impressive win over Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells. He tweeted, “Mentally she (Andreeva) is in a bubble like Sharapova was. Mentally cut and uses same Russian cloth of right here right now.“

Not only that, he also stated, “Andreeva barring injury will be a double-digit Slam champion and has the potential to be the Cream of the Crop of any Russian who got to the Top. Andreeva barring injury will be a double-digit Slam champion and has the potential to be the Cream of the Crop of any Russian who got to the Top.” He believes Andreeva is the most complete player inside/out, and she’s ready to “launch to multiple Grand Slams.”

Do you agree with all these tennis experts, or do you think we should wait a bit more before predicting big things for Andreeva?