Mirra Andreeva has been doing big things since she was just 15. Now, today is her 18th birthday, and she’s looking back at an already amazing career. This season, she has marked her place as the one to watch out for. The Russian already has two WTA 1000 titles to her name—back-to-back wins at the Dubai Open and Indian Wells. And the cherry on top? She beat World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Indian Wells final. But this journey didn’t come without its bumps. Now, she’s reflecting on one of the teaching moments in her career.

The Russian teenager has elevated her game this season. At Wimbledon 2023, she made a remarkable run to the fourth round, defeating six opponents. After winning the first set and leading 3-0 in the second against 25th seed Madison Keys, Andreeva’s momentum stalled, and the match took a dramatic turn.

Mid-match, she got frustrated and threw her racquet, which earned her a warning from Swedish chair umpire Louise Azemar Engzell. Then, in the final game, she slipped while going for a shot, and her racket flew out of her hand again. This time, Engzell docked her a point, giving Keys a match point. The American didn’t waste the chance and sealed the win. Andreeva had been trying to become the youngest Wimbledon quarterfinalist since Anna Kournikova in 1997.

Fast forward to April 28, 2025—Andreeva opened up about that Wimbledon match on the podcast Tennis Insider Club. “Yes, because I actually, before playing the match, I felt good. But then during the match, I had a thought that, well, if I win the match, I can be into my first quarterfinals. Isn’t that insane? Playing my first quarterfinals at a Grand Slam, and then I completely forgot that I’m still playing a match of a fourth round and I’m not into quarterfinals yet,” she said.

She continued, saying, “So I start to think how great it would be if I would play a quarterfinal, and then I lead 6-3 for one, 40-15. And I’m like, oh, yes, I’m in quarterfinals. Oh, yeah, that’s great. And I start to think about that. Then we all know Madison, the way that she plays. So she didn’t kind of back down.”

That’s when things started to slip away. “She kept the same level of game. And then when she saw me, that I got a little bit nervous and a little bit passive, she just stepped right into it, and she started playing even more aggressive. And then after, I didn’t really have a chance to even come back because I started to think about the future that didn’t even happen. And I forgot that I’m still playing a tennis match, and that I have to win for that future to happen,” Andreeva added. Acknowledging the importance of staying focused on the present rather than getting ahead of herself, she admitted that her focus shifted to the potential victory, forgetting the challenge ahead, and expressed how the loss left her feeling deeply disappointed.

Mirra Andreeva even described what she felt afterward. The World No.7 said, “Then, you know, coming back into the small room, I lived in the Ibis, you know, the room was like this space, like this. And there, here I have a bathroom, here I have my bed. And like, you know, I come back, I sit on my bed. And I didn’t leave my room until the night we left. So it was a bit hard, but you know, I got through it. So it’s all fine.”

She learned from it. At the French Open, Andreeva knocked out Aryna Sabalenka again—this time in the quarterfinals—to make it to her first Grand Slam semifinal. That made her the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist since Martina Hingis in 1997. She was also the youngest player to defeat a World No.1 or No.2 at a Slam since Jelena Dokic in 1999. Her dream run ended in the semis against Jasmine Paolini, who beat her 6-3, 6-1. But the learning curve had flattened out, and the results were beginning to show.

Now, Andreeva is gearing up for another deep run—this time at the Madrid Open.

Mirra Andreeva secures a quarterfinal spot at the Madrid Open

This tournament holds special meaning for Mirra Andreeva. It’s where she had her breakthrough in 2023, reaching the fourth round without dropping a set before falling to Sabalenka. In 2024, she improved again, making it to the quarterfinals. Once more, it was Sabalenka who ended her run. But in 2025, the Russian teen is holding her own. So far, she’s taken out Marie Bouzkova, 27th seed Magdalena Frech, and qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva to make her second straight Madrid quarterfinal. With 10 match wins in Madrid across three years, this is officially her most successful WTA 1000 event so far.

Next up? A showdown with Coco Gauff in the quarterfinal. The Americans lead their head-to-head 2-0, but they haven’t played since the 2023 US Open. Andreeva is not the same player she was then. She’s older, wiser, and sharper. Today, on April 29, as she turns 18, the journey feels like it’s only getting started.

Will Mirra Andreeva gift herself a Madrid semifinal on her milestone birthday?