Andreeva channels 2025 lessons into 2026 surge
Mirra Andreeva’s explosive 2025 faded mid-year, but at 18, she’s reset her mindset for a steady Australian Open push, starting strong in Adelaide.
In the balmy Adelaide night, Mirra Andreeva carved through Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-1, her forehand whipping crosscourt with renewed bite. The 18-year-old’s straight-sets mastery lasted just over an hour, converting five of seven break points while claiming over 75 percent of her first-serve points. Now ranked No. 8, she’s 3-1 this season after Brisbane quarters, eyes fixed on deeper Australian Open runs after two straight fourth-round exits in Melbourne.
“Those wins gave me a lot of confidence to go through the season,” she said after her win over Bouzkova, “but at the same time I felt like I was putting pressure on myself. I was expecting myself to play at the same level throughout the whole year, which I now understand was not really possible. We’re human, so it’s OK that sometimes something doesn’t work or go your way. Last year it was all new to me, so I was still learning how to accept that and move on from that. But it was a very good experience for me to go through that -- to win, but also not to have any titles after that. It was a good learning experience.”
Last year, the then-17-year-old ignited the tour with 12 straight victories, snatching back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells to vault to No. 6. Solid showings followed at the French Open and Wimbledon quarterfinals, yet a 22-13 record after Indian Wells pulled her back, sidelining her from the WTA Finals. That uneven stretch exposed the grind of elite tennis, where early fireworks rarely sustain without adjustment.
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Embracing the mental tightrope
Andreeva’s 2025 highs built a towering benchmark, one that bred hesitation in her baseline exchanges and one–two setups during clay and grass shifts. The pressure mounted like a lengthening rally, turning her aggressive inside-out forehands tentative amid the tour’s swing. In Adelaide, she rediscovered that edge, pinning Bouzkova deep with heavy topspin to force errors, her serve-return angles opening the court for down-the-line finishers.
Offseason talks with her psychologist unpacked the emotional weight, revealing how self-expectations eroded her focus after those early triumphs. She learned to view dips not as setbacks but as human variance, a shift that freed her to attack without fear. This internal recalibration now anchors her game, blending raw power with patience on hard courts where tempo dictates outcomes.
Coach’s wisdom sharpens the blade
Conchita Martinez, Wimbledon champion and 18-year tour veteran, guided those reflections toward on-court tactics, stressing smart aggression over flawless execution. They honed variations like underspin backhands to disrupt rhythm, followed by inside-in forehands that wrong-foot opponents on the ad side. Andreeva thrives in this framework, her Bouzkova dismantling showcasing cleaner decisions—minimal errors, sustained pressure that dropped just four games.
February’s defenses in Dubai and Indian Wells loom with 2000 points at stake, but she dismisses the math, prioritizing daily drills to boost hold percentages and break conversions. Martinez reinforces the long view, urging belief in the process amid the Australian hard-court circuit’s demands. As Andreeva advances to Adelaide quarters against Maya Joint or Ajla Tomljanovic, her flat-hitting style meshes with the surface’s pace, setting up tests of slice approaches and crosscourt passing shots.
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“I’m just going to take it day by day, and just practice and improve,” she said. “Do whatever I can to be a better player and a better person. I like the work that we put in with Conchita -- trying to maintain my level by being aggressive, going for my shots, not being afraid to miss. Being smart and making the right decisions. And tonight [against Bouzkova] I saw those bits of pieces that we were trying to work on, and that made me very happy. I’m so full of energy right now. This match gave me a lot of confidence.”
Process fuels Australian Open belief
The Melbourne draw awaits, its true bounce amplifying Andreeva’s groundstrokes while challenging her against big servers with low slices and varied pace. Past fourth rounds there fuel quiet optimism, but her evolved mindset mutes external hype, focusing on execution in potential deep runs. Joint’s grinding topspin or Tomljanovic’s net rushes will probe her adaptations, yet the crowd’s hum energizes her forward steps.
“I just have to keep believing in myself,” Andreeva said. “I just have to stick to that mindset, because I know when I do the right things on the court and off, it’s just a matter of time until the right things start to happen. That’s what Conchita tells me all the time, and I feel relieved when I hear those words. Conchita said it’s going to happen sooner or later, and I choose to believe what she says.”
This trust in gradual ascent transforms 2025’s lessons into 2026 momentum, positioning her as a resilient force on these sunlit courts. With tactical layers like 1–2 patterns exploiting ad-side gaps, she’s primed to extend her Adelaide surge into Slam contention.
