Mirra Andreeva admits her mindset changed for the worse after she won back-to-back WTA 1000 titles earlier this year, but insists she has learned her lesson and she is working on being much more positive now.
If you remember well, Andreeva was just 17 when she impressively claimed back-to-back titles in Dubai and Indian Wells to become a two-time WTA 1000 champion and a top-10 player. At the time, the Russian was arguably the hottest player in the game and she had a lot of experts talking about her as a strong Grand Slam contender for the rest of 2025. But the Russian - who has since turned 18 - will have to wait for at least 2026 to become a Slam champion after she picked up quarterfinal outings at the French Open and Wimbledon, as well as a third-round showing at the US Open.
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Now, at the start of the Asian swing in Beijing, Andreeva reveals she started putting a bit of unrealistic expectations on herself after achieving major success earlier this year. And that didn't go well for her since she hasn't won any titles in half a year.
Andreeva: I started to feel more pressure... Now I'm trying to be positive and not overthinkk
"I'm trying to really focus on enjoying the game more. After I won those titles, I started to feel more pressure and more expectations. I'm working on being positive, having a good mindset and just trying to enjoy the game, and do whatever I want to do on court without overthinking," world No. 5 Andreeva explained.
"After I won those two titles, I felt like people were expecting me to win every tournament I play, which I think we all knew would be impossible. But I think that is an experience I had to go through. You have to go through this, take the positives out of that, try to improve and learn from your mistakes. Every day I try to learn, and I get older, maybe a little bit wiser, maybe a little bit smarter.'"
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After a first-round bye in Beijing, Andreeva is set to take on Zhu Lin in the second round. The Russian made the Beijing quarterfinal last year.
