As if by some inevitable act of fate, Mirra Andreeva and Jessica Pegula will face one another next in the WTA Finals semi-finals.
Their controversy before the tournament began had many scrambling for the fixture list to see if and when they might meet.
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There were many permutations and potential outcomes, but given how sport often works, the storyline had written itself.
Now, not only will we get to see a first-ever meeting between these two elite-level ball-strikers, but we will also get to see how they react after such pre-match drama rocked the tennis world.
Pegula was heard calling Andreeva a ‘diva’ during a long rant, mistakenly live-streamed to thousands on the WTA’s official YouTube channel.
Andreeva has already reacted to Pegula’s comments, indicating they swiftly moved on.
Now, she has the chance to prove it.
Mirra Andreeva prepares to face Jessica Pegula for the first time in her career
Speaking on court after yesterday’s win over her good friend and last-minute call-up Diana Shnaider, the Russian was asked about facing Jessica Pegula, to which she briefly spoke to the Indian Wells crowd.
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She pleaded, jokingly: “Well, uh, one thing I know for sure, it’s not gonna be an easy match.
“Guys, please, I know it’s probably gonna be like 80-20, but maybe, I don’t know, if you could do like 60-40 tomorrow, that would be great!”
Then, in a separate interview with the WTA media, Mirra Andreeva expanded on her fine form, having gone 3-0 in her first-ever WTA Finals group stages.
Asked how happy she was, the 19-year-old insisted: “Yeah, I am, to this moment, I’m feeling super, super happy with the way I was playing, with the way things went, and it was not an easy last-minute change for me to find out that I’m gonna be playing against Diana, my good friend.
Photo by Mauricio Paiz/NurPhoto via Getty Images
“So, there was a little bit of adjustment in my game plan, and also how I approached this match mentally as well.
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“So super happy with how things went, and very happy to go to the semi-finals without losing a match.”
Then, when told she is just one win away from matching Elena Rybakina’s tally for the season, Andreeva said, with a smile: “I’m coming!”
Records are of little importance to her in the moment, as she later claimed, instead suggesting that constant progression was her main focus, with the records to come naturally as long as she maintains that mindset.
And finally, Andreeva expanded on her upcoming clash with Pegula: “Yeah, it’s gonna be for sure a very interesting and entertaining match, because, obviously, we’ve never played against each other. It’s crazy to think that our first match would be in the semi-finals of WTA finals. A very interesting tournament to have your first match against somebody.
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“So yeah, I’m looking forward to that one. Obviously curious to see how it’s gonna go, how she’s gonna play in the match and see what kind of a player she is. So, yeah, looking forward to the match.”
Andreeva remains the only unbeaten player left at the WTA Finals. Linda Noskova will face Elina Svitolina in the other semi-final.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
