Mirra Andreeva has enjoyed a breakout year in 2025, winning her first two WTA 1000 titles.
The Russian star hadn’t qualified for a WTA 1000 semi-final before 2025, but quickly found her best level in the Middle East.
Andreeva beat Clara Tauson in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships to clinch her maiden title at the level.
Going back-to-back, Andreeva won Indian Wells shortly after, taking down world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
A third-round exit in Miami and a quarterfinal defeat in Madrid followed, as Andreeva now prepares for her opening match at the Italian Open.
During her pre-tournament press conference, Andreeva was asked to pick her least favorite surface, between hard, clay, and grass courts.
Mirra Andreeva admits grass is her least favorite surface but wants to ‘change’ that in 2025
Speaking to the media, Andreeva picked her least favorite surface to play tennis on.
“Well, considering how I played on grass last year, I would have to put grass in last place for now,” she said.
“Maybe this year I’m going to try to change. I’m going to try to change the order.
“If we take this year, I would put hard court, clay court, then I would put grass court. For me, I keep it like that.”
Andreeva played two tournaments on grass in 2024, losing her opening matches at Wimbledon and Bad Homburg.
- 2024 Bad Homburg Open 1R – Mirra Andreeva lost to Dayana Yastremska, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6
- 2024 Wimbledon 1R – Mirra Andreeva lost to Brenda Fruhvirtova, 6-1, 3-6, 2-6
The 18-year-old was then asked whether she would’ve ranked clay above hard courts in years gone by.
“Well, maybe,” said Andreeva.
“We’re going to see how these clay court tournaments are going to go. Maybe clay is going to end up in first place. We’re going to see.”
Andreeva won her first WTA title on clay, in Romania last year, when she took down Elina Avanesyan in the final, 5-7, 7-5, 4-0 (RET).
She had already found success on the surface a few months earlier, when Andreeva produced several impressive wins on her way to the French Open semi-finals.
| Round | Opponent | Result | Score |
| SF | Jasmine Paolini | Loss | 3-6, 1-6 |
| QF | Aryna Sabalenka | Win | 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 4R | Varvara Gracheva | Win | 7-5, 6-2 |
| 3R | Peyton Stearns | Win | 6-2, 6-1 |
| 2R | Victoria Azarenka | Win | 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 |
| 1R | Emina Bektas | Win | 6-2, 6-3 |
Having knocked out Grand Slam-winning Belarusians Victoria Azarenka and Sabalenka on her way to the last four, Andreeva’s run came to an end at the hands of Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
Only time will tell if she can go even better when the 2025 French Open begins on Sunday, May 25.
Are clay courts really Mirra Andreeva’s best surface?
It’s tough to judge which surface truly suits Andreeva best, as at just 18 years of age, her sample size is fairly limited.
Five months ago, it would’ve been a no-brainer to suggest clay is Andreeva’s strongest surface, but her wins in Dubai and California have unsurprisingly changed the narrative.
The numbers do, however, still show clay to be the Russians’ most successful surface, having won a higher % of matches on clay than on hard or grass courts.
| Surface | Career W/L record | Career win % | Career titles |
| Hard | 42-17 | 71% | 2 |
| Clay | 23-9 | 73% | 1 |
| Grass | 3-3 | 50% | 0 |
Andreeva has won 73% of her matches on clay, compared to 71% on hard, and 50% on grass.
Grass court success could still be in her future, as she continues to get to grips with the surface.
At 18 years of age, there is plenty of time left for Andreeva to win Wimbledon, a tournament that hasn’t been won by a teenager since her countrywoman Maria Sharapova lifted the title 21 years ago.
It remains to be seen if Andreeva can become the second Russian woman to win Wimbledon when she returns to the All England Club in 2025.
The 2025 Wimbledon tournament is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 30.
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