Mirra Andreeva has won her first WTA 1000 title and she has already set her sights on achieving so much more.
On Saturday, the 17-year-old made history by becoming the youngest woman to win a WTA 1000 title.
Andreeva defeated Clara Tauson 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 46 minutes to win the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The Russian matched Rafael Nadal by becoming the first teenager since the Spaniard in 2006 to win the Dubai title.
Mirra Andreeva sets rankings goal after winning Dubai Tennis Championships
Mirra Andreeva defeated three Grand Slam champions in Marketa Vondrousova, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina on the way to the Dubai final.
She is the youngest player to do this in the same tournament since Maria Sharapova in 2004, when she was 17.
With her victory Andreeva is set to move into the WTA Tour’s top 10 for the first time, but she does not plan on stopping as she has the top five in her sights.
“Now when you enter Top 10 and the higher your ranking is, the slower and longer it’s going to take for you to be even higher because the difference in the points is very, very short, very small,” Andreeva said.
“I think it’s going to be hard to enter the Top 5. This is the exact goal that I’m going to set for myself, to be Top 5 by the end of the year. I’m very curious if I will be able to achieve it.”
Mirra Andreeva makes history with Dubai Tennis Championships victory
Andreeva won her first WTA 1000 title after just 11 attempts, the fewest since Paula Badosa claimed the Indian Wells trophy in 2021.
She is set to reach a career-high ranking of number nine and Andreeva will be the first 17-year-old to break into the top 10 since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007.
Post-match, Andreeva shared how NBA legend LeBron James helped inspire her to victory. “I’ve been dreaming of having a press conference with a [WTA 1000] trophy by my side, so finally it happened,” she said.
“I missed some shots that I usually don’t miss,” Andreeva said. “[But] if something doesn’t go your way, OK, fine, you forget about it, play one point at a time.
“I’ve been listening to a lot of LeBron James interviews. What he said is it’s easy to be confident and to play good when everything goes your way.
“What makes you a champion is when you’re giving your best when you don’t feel great. That’s what I tried to do today.”
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