Many eyes are on Mirra Andreeva at the Dubai Tennis Championships after she superbly won the title in 2025.
Andreeva beat Clara Tauson in the 2025 Dubai final, and backed up that WTA 1000 success with another at Indian Wells immediately after.
The 18-year-old Russian is the fifth seed at this year’s Dubai Tennis Championships, where she starts off in the round of 32.
After receiving a bye in the first round, Andreeva will take on the winner of the match between Laura Siegemund and Daria Kasatkina.
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Mirra Andreeva praises Dubai fans ahead of WTA 1000 title defence
Ahead of her opener, Andreeva was reminded of her huge Russian following in Dubai last year, and was asked if she expects the same this time around.
“Well, last year there were so many people watching the match,” she replied. “I felt a lot of support.
“I felt like people were also very fair to both players, which is very nice to experience when you play in the final of a big tournament because usually maybe people kind of split, maybe they support one player more than the other in some countries, in some tournaments.
“Here I felt like both of us received so much support. Yeah, the memories from last year’s final are amazing.
“I remember them to this day. I’ll try my best to repeat that and experience maybe more or less the same kind of memories.”
Mirra Andreeva motivated by the attention after her Dubai success
It was a fantastic win from Andreeva this time last year, when she knocked out the likes of Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.
When asked if she feels different and more in the spotlight returning to the event as the champion, she said: “I felt that compared to last year, obviously now people that maybe are staying here because they see faces of players, they recognize me more.
“I don’t mind. I kind of like the attention from people, from media. Yeah, I don’t mind when that happens.
“Of course, the media, it also feels special when I came to the hotel and I saw my face. It’s just nice to see that.
“That also kind of gives me more motivation to try and play well here and maybe to try and defend the title. When I come next year, my face is there again. Yeah, it was really nice to see.”
Andreeva is clearly more than capable of defending her title, but it certainly won’t be an easy task this week.
Even with the Dubai withdrawals of Aryna Sabalenka and Swiatek, the teenager has a tough potential route to the final.
She could play fellow young star Victoria Mboko and American duo Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova along the way, with Australian Open champion Rybakina a potential final opponent.
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