Andreeva’s BNP Championship hardly was a “Mirracle”

INDIAN WELLS — She’s the kind of kid who, when it comes to her game, doesn’t kid around—paraphrasing the old Dion song—a teenager in love with a sport where her opponents often end up with love, which, in tennis, means zero.

We know where Mirra Andreeva has gone, by age 17, Sunday winning the women’s title of the BNP Paribas Open, after winning at Dubai in her previous start.

What we don’t know, but certainly can surmise, is how far she is about to go. 

Andreeva defeated world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a sold-out Indian Wells tennis garden stadium, where determined by the shrieks and shouts, the majority of the 16,100 fans were cheering for Andreeva.

That match was followed by Jack Draper, the Brit, beating Holger Rune of Denmark, 6-2, 6-2 in the men’s final in a tidy 1 hour 5 minutes. If that result wasn’t a surprise—and to many who have been touting the 23-year-old Draper, it wasn’t—then the women’s final certainly was. Or was it?

Andreeva, the Russian, has been getting accolades seemingly for years, although perhaps not that long. She has progressed beautifully from one step to another, ranking as the top junior in the sport two years ago and then meeting expectations, climbing the figurative ladder.

Andreeva dropped the first set to Sabalenka and you figured she was a bit overmatched. Not true. She roared back as all the great ones do—joining the ranks of Tracy Austin, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Kim Clijsters, all of whom became stars at a very young age.

“After the first set it was tough to come back really,” insisted Andreeva, “but I tried my best.”

Her best was enough even against a 26-year-old who has won three majors, including 2 Australian Opens and a U.S. Open, but who faltered big time in this one. 

“Honestly it was me against me,” said an understandably upset Sabalenka. “I made a lot of unforced errors on important points, and I just let her play a little bit better. She kind of like believed in herself. After that, I started playing much worse, and I was just trying to find my rhythm back but it didn’t work this time.”

There are turning points in tennis as there are in many of our popular sports.  And this may have been one. The underdog, the hopeful, breaks through and everything changes. 

It’s a matter of finding the confidence that unleashes the potential. Once a player realizes she can do it, the rest of the field realizes it, too.

It’s cute to say Andreeva’s success is a “Mirracle”, but that ignores the skill and determination which got her there—and should get her to the pinnacle of tennis.