Mirra Andreeva has been working on her ‘favourite shot’ which has brought her plenty of success over the past two tournaments.
The teenager is into the final of the Indian Wells Masters, backing up her run to the Dubai Tennis Championships title in February.
Andreeva has beaten Iga Swiatek for the second time in as many tournaments to book her spot in the final of another WTA 1000 event.
Now she will face the World number one Aryna Sabalenka for the title and she plans to play her favourite shot well in order to give her the best chance of success.
Mirra Andreeva explains how Conchita Martinez helped her improve her ‘favourite shot’
Mirra Andreeva is currently playing the best tennis of her young career having won the Dubai title and is now competing for glory at Indian Wells.
The 17-year-old is now on a 11-match winning streak and she is the fifth player to reach the Indian Wells final before turning 18 after Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters.
She defeated the likes of Swiatek and Elena Rybakina to win in Dubai and reach the Indian Wells final, and her backhand down the line has caused her opponents plenty of damage.
This is a shot Andreeva described as her favourite and she told Tennis Channel what her coach Conchita Martinez said to make the shot be more effective.
“My backhand down the line is my favourite shot, I think it’s one of my signature shots,” Andreeva said after beating Swiatek. “Before Doha I wouldn’t say that I felt so comfortable playing the backhand down the line, but then Conchita told me I’ve got to move my feet.
“So after that I felt ‘okay, maybe my backhand is coming back.’ So after that I feel like my backhand is on a roll and I also try to improve the other parts of my game.”
Mirra Andreeva plays Aryna Sabalenka in the Indian Wells final
Andreeva will play the Indian Wells final against the WTA’s World number one, Sabalenka.
This will be their first meeting since the Australian Open, when Sabalenka secured a convincing win, and this followed by another straight sets win at the Brisbane International.
The pair are set to play each other for the third time this year and Andreeva is playing at a higher level now than she was in January.
Andreeva will try to beat Sabalenka for the second time and the first since the French Open quarter-final win in 2024, and she is ready for the challenge.
“I feel that I was dealing with the nerves and the pressure pretty good, so I just feel proud of myself,” Andreeva said after eating Swiatek.
“After she literally killed me in the second set, I was just ‘well, OK, might just try to fight’. There is not much I could do about it. She was playing amazing.
“And I just kind of decided to grind and fight for every point. It doesn’t matter how I put the ball in. But I have to put it in. So I just try to do everything and in the end, it was not too bad.”
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