“Never underestimate 17 years old players“, said Boris Becker, on Mirra Andreeva’s rapid rise. He was definitely speaking from experience. The German had stunned the world when he became the youngest male champion at Wimbledon in 1985 at the age of just 17. Now, 17-year-old Andreeva has become the youngest WTA 1000 champion! With an emphatic triumph at the Dubai Tennis Championships, Andreeva has now become the talk of the rest of tennis town. Surely her future is bright, but wait a minute! Do you know Ons Jabeur, Paula Badosa, and Aryna Sabalenka had already predicted big things for Andreeva earlier this year?

Andreeva defeated the likes of Grand Slam champions, Marketa Vondrousova, Iga Swiatek, and Elena Rybakina on her way to the final at the Dubai Tennis Championships. With her win over Swiatek and Rybakina, Mirra Andreeva became the first player aged under 18 to defeat both these tennis stars at the WTA level. Not only that, with this incredible run in Dubai, she also became the youngest to beat three Grand Slam champions in a single tournament since Maria Sharapova. For those unaware, Sharapova has always been a big fan of Andreeva and last year she was even heard saying, “She (Andreeva) has a very bright future ahead of her.” Her predictions, perhaps now seem to be quite accurate!

Top WTA stars predicted Andreeva’s maiden success

Talking about predictions, Andreeva’s incredible fight back after a lengthy first set to seal the deal at 7-6(1), 6-1 against Demark’s Clara Tauson in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships has  reminded the fans of a similar prediction. At the start of the 2025 season, Ons Jabeur caught up with her close friends, Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka during a fun interview.

The top WTA players were asked who they thought would win a WTA 1000 title for the first time in 2025. In reply, Andreeva’s tennis idol, Ons Jabeur said, “I’m going to say Andreeva again… I will say Andreeva for some reason.” Even Sabalenka and Badosa joined the Tunisian to name Mirra Andreeva – the only teenager in the Top 100 – as the potential candidate for a first WTA 1000 title in 2025.

How did Andreeva react that time after hearing all these praises from these fellow WTA stars? Well, at first she gave her own predictions and said, “I wanna name myself.” Confident in herself, she added, “I’ll try. Let it be me.” And lo-and-behold, did her words come true! Mirra Andreeva has won her maiden WTA 1000 title after eleven main draws. It’s the fewest since Paula Badosa (10) at Indian Wells in 2021. The 17-year-old star created quite a few records with this title triumph in Dubai, but this wasn’t the first time that we saw the tennis world heaping praise on the Russian.

Other tennis greats who had already predicted something big for Andreeva in the 2025 season include the Sky Sports Tennis lead commentator, Jonathan Overend, and Serena Williams’ childhood coach Rick Macci. Just a few weeks ago, Overend backed Mirra Andreeva to make her big breakthrough at some point in the 2025 season. “I’ve been a Mira Andreeva fan for three years now and it is only a matter of time before she breaks through and wins a really big tournament,” said Overend.

In December 2024, Macci had already predicted, “Everything in life is in the EYE OF THE BEHOLDER. From the eyeball test, there is 17 reasons why Mirra Andreeva the Russian Rocket will have a front-row seat at every Grand SLAM and be top 5 by end of 2025 AS SHE IS ONLY 17!” Now, Andreeva is all set to make her WTA Top 10 debut on Monday, but how did the teen reflect on the incredible title triumph?

Mirra Andreeva has already set her 2025 targets higher

After securing her emphatic victory in Dubai, Mirra Andreeva revealed it had been a dream to have a press conference with a trophy by her side. Her massive self-confidence was reflected when she said, “I’d like to thank me. I know what I’ve been dealing with so I want to thank me for always believing in me. I want to thank me for never quitting and always dealing with the pressure.” Many were reminded of rapper Snoop Dog’s own speech from his Walk of Fame induction ceremony, where he said, “I want to thank me for believing in me, I want to thank me for doing all this hard work.“

Previously, her goal was to get inside the Top 10 by the end of this year. However, she has accomplished her goals in the second month of the 2025 season itself! Andreeva is “super happy” to accomplish this feat, but she doesn’t want to stop here!

Mirra Andreeva will now be the first 17-year-old to be ranked in the Top 10 since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007. However, after making it into the Top 10, she has already set her new targets for the rest of the season. What’s it? “Now when you enter Top 10 and the higher your ranking is, the slower and longer it’s going to take for you to be even higher because the difference in the points is very, very short, very small. I think it’s going to be hard to enter Top 5. This is the exact goal that I’m going to set for myself, to be Top 5 by the end of the year,” said Andreeva.

Not only that, but she also spoke about how Roger Federer and NBA legend, LeBron James motivated her to find success in Dubai. What are your thoughts on Andreeva’s incredible win, though?