Mirra Andreeva Sweeps Adelaide with Fresh Focus
From a shaky start against Victoria Mboko to a commanding title run, the 18-year-old Russian resets her game and mindset ahead of the Australian Open.
In the fading light of Adelaide’s hard courts, Mirra Andreeva hoisted the trophy after a 6-3, 6-1 clinic over Victoria Mboko, her strokes crisp and unyielding. Down 0-3 in the final, she flipped the script with nine straight games, claiming 12 of the last 13 as the crowd’s murmurs turned to roars. At 18, this third WTA title felt like a declaration, her poise on the mic matching the precision of her inside-out forehands.
During the ceremony, she credited the physio for smiley-faced tape on her toes, then paused with a grin. “I guess my team comes next, but I do feel like it was all me,” she told the crowd, eliciting chuckles that rippled through the stands. it’s a bit she’s polished since her debut win in Romania two years back, inspired by Snoop Dogg, and revived after triumphs in Dubai and Indian Wells.
“I want to thank myself for being brave in all the matches I played,” Andreeva said. “I want to thank myself for pushing myself every day of the practice these last few weeks. I want to thank myself for changing my mentality, for fighting until the very last point. For doing what I’ve got to do, for doing what my team tells me to do -- sometimes with complaining, but it’s OK.”
Turning early pressure into dominance
Mboko’s medical timeout midway underscored her discomfort, yet Andreeva’s efficiency shone through: just 4 hours and 44 minutes across four matches, surrendering only 15 games total. She stuck to her plan against Mboko’s sharp returns, ignoring the early heat and firing aggressive crosscourt backhands that skidded low on the surface. This wasn’t luck; it was the payoff of offseason drills with Conchita Martinez, emphasizing retrievals and timely aggression to build unbreakable rallies.
After a blistering 31-7 start to 2025 that tapered to 10-8, Andreeva sought rhythm in Brisbane’s quarters before this Adelaide surge. The medium-paced hard courts here let her heavy topspin grip and dip, contrasting the faster bounce she’ll face in Melbourne. Her 1–2 patterns—deep serves into crosscourt forehands—pinned Mboko back, turning defense into offense with down-the-line passes when rushes came.
Reflecting on the final’s wobble, she stayed grounded. “Well, she was playing pretty well, and I told myself not to pay attention to that,” Andreeva recalled. “She’s had a great start, so just stick to the plan and keep playing my game. Try to find options to go for my shots, be aggressive. After all, it worked.”
Shedding the weight of young stardom
Ten months since her Indian Wells crown, this victory breaks a finals drought and reignites her path. “Yeah, of course it means a lot to me to win another WTA title,” she shared. “It’s been a pretty hard road since my title at Indian Wells … I’m not making any finals after that … It was very smooth this week and I’m just very happy with the way I played.” The humor in her speech traces to family dynamics, her dad’s endless jabs at her mom fostering that quick wit.
Offseason work targeted endurance, her frame now at 178 centimeters—5-foot-10, up from the listed 5-foot-9—to extend reach on serves and volleys. With Martinez, she refined shot selection: more inside-in forehands to wrong-foot foes, mixed with underspin slices to draw errors. This builds on 2024’s major semifinal and 2025’s quarterfinal pair, addressing fatigue that crept in late last year.
“We really worked on improving my physical shape,” she explained. “To be more consistent on the court, to be able to defend well, get almost all the balls in the court. Me and Conchita, we worked on being more aggressive and going for my shots. And then, yeah, I was just trying to be smart and really use the right shots at the right time. Just happy that me and Conchita did such good work.”
Just the ball and her in Melbourne
For the first time, Andreeva enters a Grand Slam off a warmup title, noting three of the past four Australian Open women’s champions did the same. As the No. 8 seed, she covers the 400-mile haul to Melbourne for a Sunday breather before Donna Vekic on Monday. Her approach? Ditch goals for process. “I don’t really want to tell myself to set any goals because after you have expectations on yourself,” she said. “I’ve had enough of that the last few years.”
Instead, sustain the mindset through the year, letting improvement yield results. On her 2025 arc, she shrugged off patterns. “I don’t know. It probably has something to do with working a lot in the preseason. Last year I was also playing pretty good at the beginning of the year. Now, I started the season -- just my second tournament and I already have the title. It feels very special to me. I just hope that I can keep this attitude and keep it going.”
For deeper major runs, she boils it down: ignore the stage, the opponent. “Honestly, I’ve been playing not bad in Grand Slams last year, but obviously they’re not the results we were hoping for, losing in the quarters two times in a row,” she noted. “I think I just have to not think about what stage of the tournament it is and just don’t think about who I’m playing against, just think about that the ball is coming from the other side. There is no other player -- it’s just me and the ball. I think that next time, in Melbourne, I’m just going to focus on me and the yellow, fuzzy ball -- and that’s it.”
With this isolation, Andreeva steps into Melbourne unencumbered, her Adelaide poise a promise of rallies that stretch opponents thin. The crowd’s warmth here echoes in her steps forward, where every point becomes personal, every spin a step toward the deeper courts she craves.
