From “Middle East double” to Australian swing wisdom: How Andreeva deals with expectations
18-year-old Mirra Andreeva is redefining the “prodigy” narrative by prioritizing mental health and personal identity over the crushing expectations of the WTA Tour.
Mirra Andreeva, Brisbane 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
For Mirra Andreeva, the transition from teenage phenomenon to established elite has been a lesson in the architecture of pressure. Standing in the corridors of the 2026 Brisbane International ten days prior to the Australian Open, the 18-year-old Russian no longer speaks like the wide-eyed qualifier who charmed the world in 2023.
Currently ranked World No. 9, with a career-high of No. 5 reached last July, Andreeva is entering the new season with a recalibrated mindset designed to survive the very hype she created.
The context of her rise is staggering. In early 2025, while still 17, Andreeva achieved what many veterans never do: back-to-back WTA 1000 titles. Her “Middle East Double” in Dubai and her subsequent dismantling of the world’s top three – Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Elena Rybakina – to win Indian Wells cemented her status as the game’s most dangerous young hunter.
Yet, as she revealed this week, those trophies came with a hidden tax.
Not the next big thing?
“I can say that I did feel pressure from a lot of people, especially after I won the two tournaments,” Andreeva admitted following her 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback victory over Olivia Gadecki on Wednesday. “I felt like people would expect me to win Miami, and then they would expect me to win Madrid and Rome. And I was, you know : ‘That’s basically almost not possible’.”
To manage this weight, Andreeva has leaned into a high-performance ecosystem. Now practicing at the Mouratoglou Academy on the French Riviera, she has traded her early “rabbit-like” defensive style for a more structured, aggressive baseline game.
However, the technical shift is secondary to the psychological one. Andreeva has been vocal about her refusal to be labeled as the “Next” version of retired legends. When asked about local Australian prospect Emerson Jones – whom the media has already dubbed the “Next Ash Barty » – Andreeva was protective.
Andreeva’s own path
“I just think that if I had a chance to tell her something, maybe I would have said not to focus on whatever people say,” Andreeva insisted. “She’s not going to be the next Ash Barty, because Ash Barty stopped her career… [Emerson] should focus on making her own path in tennis.”
This philosophy of “own path” is Andreeva’s shield for 2026. Despite her three career titles and a 2024 French Open semifinal run, she is intentionally lowering the stakes in her own mind. She acknowledged that after her 2025 surge, she felt a “dip in form” toward the end of the year as the “obsession” with winning a Grand Slam grew.
“I just realize that I will just play and see what life will bring to me,” she said with a smile. “I’m not gonna put so much pressure on myself thinking that I have to win a Grand Slam to be a successful player. I decided to think like that this year and see where that brings me.”
