Mirra Andreeva became emotional after surviving a brutal test on her way to the Madrid Open quarter-finals. The No. 9 seed led Anna Bondar 5-1 in the final set of her fourth-round match but lost five games in a row, and started telling herself and her team: “I will lose.” But the teenager battled through to claim a 6-7(5) 6-3 7-6(5) victory, and then burst into tears.
Andreeva bowed her head and started crying as soon as she’d won the match, pumping her fist. And the tears flowed even more after she shook hands with Bondar and stepped into the middle of the court to wave to the crowd.
The 18-year-old has now explained that being in a dark place during the match helped her to push through and refocus on her service games – but she still thinks she needs to get better at winning matches while she’s ahead.
“I found myself in a really bad place when I was down 5-6 in the third set, when I lost five games in a row. Maybe it’s strange to say, but I feel like at that moment it helped me a lot, because I was really hard on myself and I thought I didn’t want to continue like that,” Andreeva said after reaching the last eight.
“After that, I was able to win my serve very easily, without losing a point. Even then, I wasn’t happy, because I felt like I should have closed it out earlier. I feel like I have to be able to close out matches when I have the opportunity, and that’s why I’m being a little hard on myself right now, but I think it’s a very necessary kind of criticism.”
Andreeva must now regroup, as she faces Leylah Fernandez for a place in her first Madrid Open semi-final. The Russian has reached three straight quarter-finals here, but has never been any further.
The world No. 8 enjoyed a breakout run in Madrid three years ago, receiving a wildcard into the tournament when she was just 15 and ranked outside the top 150. She beat Fernandez on that run, but knows she must improve before they meet again on Tuesday.
“I’d like to see a few less double faults, because today I was nervous and tense at times, although overall I’m quite happy with my serve. I also don’t want to wait for my opponent’s mistakes,” Andreeva said after fighting back to beat Bondar.
“I prefer to make mistakes myself by trying my shots. I want to do everything myself when I’m on the court, and that’s what I’m going to focus on.”