Mirra Andreeva will get to experience the Middle East swing for the first time, having received direct entry into the main draw of two big WTA 1000 events this month.
The Russian prodigy is currently restricted from playing more than 12 WTA tournaments because of her age limit and needs to discuss with her team what events would suit her schedule. So far, she has played two tournaments in 2024 and exceeded expectations in both.
Andreeva was a quarterfinalist in the opening week of the year at the Brisbane International, where she scored her first Top 20 win of the season over compatriot Liudmila Samsonova. A few weeks later, she made the Australian Open fourth round on her senior debut in Melbourne.
During the opening week, the 16-year-old stunned her childhood idol Ons Jabeur 6-0, 6-2 and recovered from a 1-5 defeat in her third-round match against Diane Parry to advance. However, her sizzling run was halted by former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Last month, Andreeva spoke of her intention to play more tour-level tennis but respects the rules. She will now have ten additional tournaments to play from for the remainder of the year. And she appears to have selected her next two tournaments, which will take place in the Middle East.
Andreeva will be part of a star-studded lineup at the two WTA 1000 tournaments in February. Jessica Pegula's withdrawal from both tournaments due to injury opened up a main draw spot for Andreeva, who was the first alternate.
Andreeva will play her next event at the Qatar Open, which begins on February 11th, and then the Dubai Championships, which follows in the subsequent week. This year, the two Gulf countries will operate the tournaments as standalone WTA 1000s.
While Andreeva will play in Dubai for the first time, she was in the United Arab Emirates in December to play the World Tennis League in Abu Dhabi. She did fairly well because she was part of Team Eagles, who were crowned champions in the mixed-team exhibition event.
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