Mirra Andreeva Reveals Superstitions That Coach Conchita Martinez Finds Difficult
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Mirra Andreeva recently admitted to having superstitions about food that her coach, Conchita Martinez, has tried to manage.
Andreeva began working with Conchita Martinez in April last year. Convincing the 1994 Wimbledon champion to be her coach seemed like a great move that would help her from the second it was announced.
However, Martinez was not Swiatek's first choice for the role. Former world No. 1 Dinara Safina revealed last year that the teenage prodigy tried to hire her as a coach, but she could not commit to the role.
A few weeks later, three-time US Open champion Kim Clijsters said Andreeva had also approached her for the role. Attempts to hire Safina and Andreeva showed the 17-year-old was intent from the start on hiring a coach with experience at the top.
Despite trying to hire others before Martinez, Andreeva has made good progress since they started working together. She reached her maiden Grand Slam semifinal at last year's French Open, a run that included a win against Aryna Sabalenka.
Andreeva also won her first WTA title at the Iasi Open and progressed to a WTA 500 title at the Ningbo Open. The young talent led Daria Kasatkina 3-0 in the deciding set in Ningbo but could not get over the line.
In a recent press conference, Andreeva reflected on being comforted by Kasatkina during the post-match press conference in Ningbo when she began to cry after receiving the runner-up trophy.
Andreeva often becomes emotional during matches and admits she can sometimes be difficult for Martinez to work with off the court because of occasional teenage outbursts that baffle her coach.
Speaking at the Australian Open, Andreeva also revealed superstitions about food that Martinez deals with. The teenager feels she has to eat the same meals and on-court snacks during tournaments.
"It's pretty complicated to work with me, because if I start the tournament eating chicken and rice, well, I cannot change after I cannot take pasta or I cannot take anything else. I will always take chicken and rice."
"If I start like this, I've got to continue like this. Even if I'm tired, I have no choice, but I have to eat it. Today I start with dried fruits(for on-court snack) so it is dried fruits for Melbourne this year."
Although Martinez tried to put her foot down about eating the same meals, the former Wimbledon Wimbledon winner followed Andreeva's superstitions after accidentally spilling some powder on a desk while preparing one of her recovery shakes. Martinez now spills it before preparing every shake.
Andreeva's age and superstitions do not stop the pair from having fun, though. The Ningbo Open runner-up revealed that she is comfortable sharing her feelings with Martinez and says they combine having fun with working hard.
"I feel very comfortable telling her everything that happens in my life. I don't know if she wants to hear it, though! But I'm very comfortable sharing with her everything that's going on."
"We let ourselves joke around and have some fun. Of course she's very professional, she knows when the fun is over and when we need to really put the work in, for example, in a tennis court. When we're off the tennis court, we can have some fun, but of course we also need to take it serious sometimes."
