After a month of inactivity, Mirra Andreeva returned to action at this week's Rouen Open, and she had a familiar name in her coaching box.
Andreeva has been rising through the WTA rankings at a frenetic pace. Earlier in January, she made a career-altering decision. She stopped frequenting the Elite Tennis Academy, which is based in France.
It was where she had been honing her tennis skills along with her older sister Erika since leaving their training base in Sochi, Russia. There, she trained under the guidance of retired Monagesque ATP player Jean-Rene Lisnard.
After leaving the famous academy, Andreeva eventually confirmed that she was working with Russian coach Kirill Kryukov during the Australian Open. But she's now made a second coaching appointment with a third of the season gone.
The first pictures of 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez returning to the courts emerged at the weekend during which she supervised Andreeva's training sessions in Rouen—one of the newest tournament additions to the 2024 calendar.
Martinez is one of the best female Spanish players of her generation. She peaked at a career-high ranking of No. 2 in 1995. She's also a Grand Slam-winning coach, helping compatriot Garbine Muguruza win the 2017 Wimbledon title.
She worked closely with former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova between 2018 and 2019 before taking over a full-time role as Muguruza's coach in November 2019. The 52-year-old steered the two-time major champion to win the 2021 WTA Finals and eventually won the WTA Coach of the Year award.
Martinez and Andreeva kicked off their partnership in the best possible manner in Rouen. The 16-year-old sensation snapped her three-match losing streak with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win over former Roland Garros semifinalist Nadia Podoroska.
After the match, the Russian prodigy told reporters that Martinez is her new coach, although on an interim basis, and is evaluating a long-term alliance, although she did not get into details.
"Yes, recently, we started working together. So far, I like it. We'll see how it goes. So far, I like it, that's it."
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