The phenomenon of the teenage prodigy isn’t new to ladies’s tennis. Since 1887, when Lottie Dod received the first of her 5 Wimbledon singles titles at simply 15, a number of precocious abilities have turned heads with a swing of their racquet.
The Open Era, which started in 1968, has seen Tracy Austin, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis win Grand Slam crowns earlier than their seventeenth birthday, and Steffi Graf, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova obtain Major success earlier than turning 18.
Hana Mandlikova and Emma Raducanu had been 18 after they broke by means of. Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Chris Evert, Iva Majoli, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Bianca Andreescu, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff needed to wait longer, however managed the feat earlier than blowing out 20 candles on their birthday cake.
Capturing public creativeness
There have been different youngsters with out the identical degree of early Grand Slam success — however they exerted an identical maintain on the public creativeness of their time.
Jennifer Capriati was the youngest participant to enter the top-10 at 14 and an Olympic champion at 16 (Barcelona 1992). But she endured private challenges in her teenagers and took a break from the Tour. She made an inspiring comeback to win three Majors in her mid-20s and climb to the high of the rankings.
Andrea Jaeger rose to World No. 2 at 16, making 5 semifinals and two finals in Grand Slam occasions in the early Nineteen Eighties. But her profession was reduce brief by damage. Anna Kournikova, a up to date of Hingis, was one other who was pressured into early retirement due to accidents.
The incidence of accidents and stress-related burnout amongst youngsters pressured the WTA into motion in the mid-Nineteen Nineties. It launched measures, which included limiting the variety of tournaments youngsters might play, directed at “reducing burnout and increasing longevity”.
Perhaps as a consequence of those measures, and extra concretely due to the prevailing aggressive dynamics at the time, the interval between the 2005 Australian Open and 2019 Wimbledon had no teenage first-time Major winners. Andreescu, Swiatek, Raducanu and Gauff ended that part, and now one other gifted teen has ambitions of becoming a member of them.
Mirra Andreeva, who turned 16 in April, has performed in the major draw of 4 Slams — on every event, it has wanted a top-25 participant to cease her. She has already made two journeys to the second week. After dropping the junior ultimate eventually 12 months’s Australian Open, Andreeva reached the third spherical at Roland-Garros, the fourth spherical at Wimbledon, the second spherical at the US Open and the fourth spherical at the ongoing Australian Open.
Statement of intent
Both in Paris and London final 12 months, she got here by means of qualifying, making these runs that rather more spectacular. This 12 months’s Australian Open was her most empathic assertion of intent; whereas her Wimbledon displaying was exceptional for somebody new to grass, it was her Melbourne efficiency that recommended she has the psychological wherewithal to go deep at the Majors.
Defining second: Andreeva beat her tennis idol Ons Jabeur (left) — a three-time Grand Slam finalist — in Melbourne, the 6-0, 6-2 win showcasing the younger Russian’s selection and tennis IQ. It was additionally Andreeva’s first victory over a top-10 participant. | Photo credit score: Getty Images
Andreeva beat Bernarda Pera in straight units in her opening match, overwhelmed her tennis inspiration Ons Jabeur — a three-time Grand Slam finalist — in the second, and saved a match-point earlier than beating Diane Parry in the third spherical. She additionally took the first set in opposition to 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, whom she had overwhelmed twice earlier than, earlier than falling brief in her bid to turn out to be the youngest Australian Open quarterfinalist since Hingis in 1997.
Where the win over Jabeur showcased Andreeva’s selection and tennis IQ, the victory over Parry shone a lightweight on the World No. 47’s psychological resilience.
Against the artistic Jabeur, Andreeva, who can slice and cube it herself, made a strategic determination to not match her idol. Until she felt like she might afford to — like the backhand drop shot to earn set-points in the first set of the 54-minute 6-0, 6-2 hammering.
“I’m also not very bad at dropshots [but] I decided at first not to do a lot of dropshots,” Andreeva mentioned. “I tried to beat her from the baseline. It was just the momentum when I decided to do a couple of drop shots. I think she’s still better than me in this, but I will improve!”
Andreeva’s means to problem-solve has earned comparisons to Hingis, the youngest singles Grand Slam champion in the Open Era, at 16 years and 117 days.
“I actually watched a lot of her matches,” Andreeva mentioned. “I heard that people compare me to her. I think we’re a bit different in a way that she plays smart, she’s a bit more aggressive, not afraid to go to the net. Me, I prefer to stay on the baseline. If I have an opportunity, I go to the net of course… but I mean, I can finish the point on the baseline.”
Mental fortitude
Andreeva’s psychological energy throughout the win over Parry caught the eye of one other former No. 1, Andy Murray. “Andreeva down 5-1 in third. Commentator ‘she really needs to work on the mental side of her game. She’s too hard on herself when she’s losing’ … 30 minutes later 7-6 Andreeva wins,” Murray posted on X, previously Twitter. “Maybe the reason she turned the match around is because of her mental strength. Maybe she turned the match around because she is hard on herself and demands more of herself when she’s losing/playing badly? Winner.”
Keeping it real: Andreeva has dealt nicely with the adulation to date, refusing to purchase into the hype round her. | Photo credit score: Getty Images
Andreeva, a self-confessed Murray fan, was delighted with the praise. “Yeah, that’s true… Maybe being harsh on myself actually helped me. This harshness, let’s say, helped because I am not very positive in my head usually. I was saying not good words to myself. I think that helped me, that pushed me.”
Andreeva’s ambitions are large — she doesn’t need to cease enjoying till she has received 25 Major titles — which maybe explains why she is just not impressed with what she has accomplished to date. “I don’t think that I achieved something incredible,” she mentioned after her Melbourne exit. “Fourth round is nothing. Maybe if I win a Slam… I have time still to do that, I hope.”
Still chasing her first WTA singles title — she has six on the ITF circuit — Andreeva is subsequent scheduled to play the WTA 1000 occasions in Doha and Dubai in February. Until she wins one thing of be aware in top-flight tennis, questions on whether or not she is the real deal will linger. But at the very least one former World No. 1 thinks the reply is clear.
“I think everybody in tennis and the players know she is the real deal,” Lindsay Davenport, a three-time Major titlist, advised the Tennis Channel. “She is coming, she’s going to be in the conversation of being a Grand Slam champion. You just never know when the player reaches that point in their own mind. Sometimes, it is this young. Sometimes it might take until 17 or 18. Gauff won a Major at 19, but we started talking about her when she was 15. Maybe it is now for Andreeva.”
