Mirra Andreeva played great at the 2023 Roland Garros but it wasn't enough to make it to the second week of the tournament.
At just 16 years old, the young Russian is one of the most talented players on the WTA Tour. However, during her third-round match against Coco Gauff at the 2023 Roland Garros, Andreeva made a move that nearly ended her tournament run prematurely.
After squandering two set points during a first-set tiebreak against Gauff, Andreeva reacted by smacking a ball into the crowd. The ball struck an area in the fourth row of the Suzanne Lenglen crowd, a move that could have led to her disqualification from the tournament.
However, 'only' a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct was issued by umpire Timo Janzen. While no one was hit, had the ball struck anyone in the crowd, the young Russian could have been automatically defaulted from the tournament as per the Grand Slam Rulebook.
Andreeva's move echoes a similar incident involving Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon the previous year. Tsitsipas fired a ball into the crowd that hit a wall and deflected into a seating area full of people, but he only received a warning.
Despite the setback, Andreeva managed to win the opening set on the very next point after 61 minutes of competition. However, she was unable to maintain her momentum as Gauff, last year's finalist, took control of the match, winning the next two sets 6-1. After the match, she expressed the regret for her actions.
"Yes, right after I thought that it was a really stupid move from me, because it was not necessary to do that. Yes, so that was not the best I could do and not the best. It was really bad what I did. Yes, I had thoughts like this, but he just gave me a warning."
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