Mirra Andreeva is ascending the global ranks of women's tennis at an incredible pace, and she's already making some career-altering decisions.
At 16, Andreeva is the youngest player in the world's Top 100 and is projected to break into the world's Top 40 following the conclusion of the Australian Open. The Russian prodigy has enjoyed a dream run in her return to Melbourne, 12 months after headlining the girl's singles final.
Andreeva has taken down Bernarda Pera and her idol Ons Jabeur to advance into the third round. There, she fought back from the brink of defeat to beat Diane Parry, rallying from a 1-5 deficit in the third set and needing to save a match point to prevail in the deciding tiebreaker.
Two men who have certainly made Andreeva tick were her coaches, Jean-René Lisnard and Jean-Christophe Faurel, who both work at the Elite Tennis Academy, one of the most prominent tennis facilities in the world, which is based in France.
Current ATP World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev honed his skills at the famous academy for seven years between 2013 and 2020. Mirra and her older sister Erika switched their training base from Sochi, Russia, to Cannes, France, at the start of 2022.
But at this year's Australian Open, Andreeva revealed that she is no longer training at the Elite Tennis Academy, which retired Monagesque ATP pro Jean-Rene Lisnard founded, but will remain in France. Andreeva also added that she has stopped working with the former World No. 84.
"Previously, I've been training at Lisnard Academy, but not this time. We are still based in France, but on the other courts. I have Russian coach Kirill Kryukov, he travelled with me being the main part of my team."
Andreeva has progressed into the second week of a Grand Slam for the second time in her young career. And despite the significant age gap between herself and seasoned veterans in the draw, the Russian teenager is tipped to break through at the majors, with former WTA No. 1 Lindsay Davenport stating that age is unlikely to be a hindrance.
0 Comments