Mirra Andreeva keeps proving her qualities at the 2024 World Tennis League after two more wins at the event.
The 17-year-old phenom from Russia proved that she's one of the most talented players on the WTA Tour already in 2024. Becoming older, more experienced, and physically stronger every day, there were high expectations of what she could do ahead of the 2025 season.
Ahead of the start of the new season, Andreeva signed up to compete at the World Tennis League, which is a team exhibition tournament played in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
In the group stage, her team, The Hawks, won two ties, winning the most games out of all the teams, which is why they secured the final participation, taking on The Falcons.
Like in all of their previous ties, Aryna Sabalenka and Andreeva teamed up in doubles, taking on Caroline Garcia and Elena Rybakina, who are a very strong team with incredible serving potential.
These four players met on the tennis court already during the group stage, with Andreeva and Sabalenka winning that match 7-5 in a tie-break. That was by far their most complicated doubles match in the group stage.
The Hawks duo then beat Iga Swiatek and Paula Badosa 6-1, and they triumphed 6-1 also over Jasmine Paolini and Simona Halep, showing their potential on the doubles court.
However, in the final, Rybakina and Garcia had an incredible start to the match. They won the first five games, leading 5-0 and coming close to a very important win.
At the World Tennis League, every game won counts as a point, making a 6-0 win incredibly valuable for a team. Unfortunately for Rybakina and Garcia, they shockingly couldn't get the job done.
Sabalenka and Andreeva started an impossible comeback. They first broke back to make it 1-5, then 3-5, and they broke again to make it 5-5. They were then broken, so they trailed 5-6 but broke back once more to force a tie-break.
They saved three match points in the process, and in the tie-break, Sabalenka and Andreeva turned around a 2-4 deficit to win the match 7-5 in the tie-break.
Many fans in Abu Dhabi might have wanted to see a heavy-hitting singles contest between Rybakina and Sabalenka after that, but while the Kazakhstani player stayed on the court, Andreeva played instead of the current World No. 1.
And it was a great decision. The 17-year-old player was able to put Rybakina under incredible pressure, as the Kazakhstani player had to face break points in almost every single one of her service games.
She saved two break points in the first game of the match, but Andreeva was able to break in third and then fifth as well, quickly building a 5-1 lead as she held her own serve without too many issues.
Continuing to hold her serve, Andreeva easily won the match 6-2, giving her team a 13-8 lead after the first two matches of the tie. Now, men will play a doubles match and then a singles match, which will decide the winner of the 2024 World Tennis League.