Mirra Andreeva has shed light on why she didn't play in the deciding week for the WTA Finals spot as the Russian tennis star clarified that missing Tokyo was something decided within her team, and not something that happened because of administrative issues.
Going into the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo, Andreeva was sitting at No. 8 in the Race to the WTA Finals, while Elena Rybakina was behind at No. 9. But then, two days before the start of Tokyo, it was revealed that the Russian teenage sensation would not play. That left Rybakina only needing to reach the Tokyo semifinal to clinch the last Riyadh spot - which she did.
During the week, rumors surfaced that Andreeva wanted to play Tokyo but visa issues prevented her from doing so.
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While the 18-year-old missed out on making her maiden WTA Finals singles appearance this year, she is still in Riyadh since she made the season-ending tournament in doubles with Diana Shnaider.
Andreeva on not playing in deciding week for the last WTA Finals spot
We just had a talk with our team and we decided to skip the tournament. In the end, it turned out to be a wrong decision, the 18-year-old admitted in Riyadh.
When Andreeva won back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells earlier this year, she was very well positioned to make the season-ending tournament.
I guess with experience were just learning. This is just my, not even a second full year on the WTA Tour, so I think were just going to learn from this, were going to get more experience from this and next time I think were not going to make that mistake again," the two-time WTA 1000 champion added.
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Meanwhile, Andreeva and fellow Russian Shnaider lost to Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Davrowski in their WTA Finals doubles opener on Saturday. On Monday, the Russian duo plays against Timea Babos and Luisa Stefanini.
