Mirra Andreeva is into the final of this year’s WTA Finals with minimal fuss, having beaten Jessica Pegula in straight sets earlier today.
She has still yet to drop a set at Indian Wells, having inflicted damaging defeats over some of the world’s very best players. Today was no different.
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The American fought hard and actually snagged a couple of breaks. However, it was her serve that routinely found itself under siege, with her teenage opponent conjuring nine break points, converting four of them.
In the end, the 6-3, 6-4 scoreline favoured Jessica Pegula. Mirra Andreeva was pretty much flawless throughout.
Unsurprisingly, she was in good spirits immediately afterwards when speaking on court.
Andreeva even made reference to Pegula’s ‘diva’ comments made before the tournament began, whilst admitting she’s surprising herself with her current form.
Mirra Andreeva surprised herself with flawless win over Jessica Pegula
Andreeva began with a summation of her performance. Even she seemed surprised by how easy she is making this WTA Finals field look.
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She began: “I don’t know what has been going on because usually I feel on important points or when I have to close out the match or the set, or I’m break point down, I get so tight, but for some reason today I was just playing. I was not thinking about anything, I was just trying to enjoy and for some reason, it’s never happened to me before, I did not feel one bit of pressure in me today. I don’t know why; maybe it’s the diva energy in me! But it’s the first time that it happened.”
Then, discussing her fierce forehand down the line, which paid huge dividends throughout today’s match, she added: “I was pretty happy with how I was able to open the angles, especially with my forehand, because I feel like she was really moving me around the court a lot with her forehand as well, especially in the second set.
“Her short forehand crosses were crucial; I did not know what to do with them. I was trying to do the same, and I managed to do it well today. Hopefully I can keep the same level of tennis tomorrow!”
Andreeva’s fellow finalist has yet to be confirmed, but her preparation will likely remain as rigorous regardless of who it turns out to be.
“I think the main thing for me is to stick to our routine,” she began. “Not to get superstitious, but not to do anything specific to prepare for the final; we just do whatever we have been doing, we just do a nice recovery.”
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And finally, Andreeva could not leave without referencing those ‘diva’ comments.
Asked if merchandise might be on the horizon, she claimed: “I think so! We really should think about it. That would be amazing. It’s great we could turn it around and make it such a legendary joke. We should think about it!”
Marion Bartoli has huge praise for Mirra Andreeva’s serve
Chatting alongside Madison Keys, who claimed Andreeva should become world number one in 2027, was Marion Bartoli, who also had nothing but positive words to say about the 19-year-old.
Referencing her serve in particular, highlighting it as an area that kept Pegula smothered throughout, the French pundit insisted: “First of all, that serve I think is so underrated.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
“The last game after losing the first point on her second serve. She served all first serves, all in a row, with different paces and different placements as well.
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“When you are courtside, the sound that it makes is so impressive, especially when she serves at 120mph. She has been putting so much pressure with the forehand cross-court; Jess was trying her best to redirect, but it’s such a tough shot to hit because Mirra hits with so much side-spin that you are so far outside the court. If you go down the line and it’s not perfect, you open the whole cross-court to cover.
“I think that relentless pressure from the back of the court eventually got the better of Jess, but it was such a high-quality match.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
