‘She Kicked My A**’ – 16-Year-Old Grand Slam Debutant and Roger Federer Fangirl Acknowledges Lessons Learned From Aryna Sabalenka After Madrid Masters Defeat

For 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the 2023 French Open is something special. After all, it’s her first-ever Grand Slam appearance, and the promising young Russian, an avid Roger Federer fan, is hoping to make a good impression. There’s no denying that she is off to the best possible start. Andreeva, quite astonishingly, made light work of American Alison Riske-Amritraj. Andreeva’s win was astonishing because Riske-Amritraj is ranked much higher than Andreeva in the WTA Tour rankings. While Andreeva went into the match ranked World No. 143, Riske-Amritraj was World No. 85.

After her convincing victory against Riske-Amritraj, Andreeva spoke at length in her post-match press conference about her learnings from her loss against Aryna Sabalenka at the Madrid Open earlier this year.

Mirra Andreeva learned a great deal from Madrid masterclass by Aryna Sabalenka

At the Madrid Open, Andreeva faced the toughest challenge of her pro tennis career so far. The Russian met World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, and unsurprisingly, Sabalenka showed her class. Andreeva could only manage to get the better of Sabalenka across four games. However, for the young Russian, the experience proved to be a highly educational one.

In her post-match press conference, Andreeva said, “Honestly, she kicked my a**. I’m sorry, but she really did”. The 16-year-old went on to say, “At that time I didn’t really have time to think between the points because she was playing really fast”. Andreeva added, “So maybe I could just maybe change rhythm more, but it was a good match for me.”

Andreeva suggested that her win in her Grand Slam debut proves that she learned a thing or two from Sabalenka. “It was a good experience even though I won just four games, but I guess it was a good lesson if I’m here now.”

Read More: ‘Never Know What’s Gonna Happen’ – Hours After Bizarre Crowd Reception, Belarusian Tennis Star Aryna Sabalenka Dishes Out Major French Open Worry

Roger Federer would have enjoyed seeing his fan’s Grand Slam debut

Swiss Maestro Roger Federer won a whopping 20 singles Grand Slam titles during his trophy-laden career. During his illustrious pro tennis career, Federer’s nemesis in chief was none other than Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

A few days ago, Andreeva revealed that as a youngster learning the game, she would always support Federer, especially when he faced Rafael Nadal. All in all, it’s safe to say that Federer would be proud of his young fan after seeing a terrific display.

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