Mirra Andreeva is looking to win her third title of the year at this week’s Italian Open.
The Russian star broke through to win her first WTA 1000 title earlier this year, when Andreeva won the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Carrying that momentum through to Indian Wells, Andreeva beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final to clinch her second consecutive WTA 1000 crown.
A semi-finalist at last year’s French Open, Andreeva hasn’t quite found her best tennis on the clay in 2025.
Andreeva lost to Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, 5-7, 1-6, falling to a convincing defeat against the American star.
She will, however, have a chance at revenge in Rome, as the pair face off in the last eight of the Italian Open.
Speaking ahead of her fourth career meeting with Gauff, Andreeva has highlighted the tactical changes she plans to make.
Mirra Andreeva plans to play more ‘aggressively’ during Coco Gauff rematch in Rome
The world number seven is determined to produce a better performance when she plays Gauff in the Italian Open quarterfinals.
“Yes, it was a difficult match in Madrid. I had two set points on my serve, which I couldn’t convert,” said Andreeva.
“It seems to me that after them, I started thinking a lot about the fact that I couldn’t win.
“But, now the conditions are different, the match is different, so from the very beginning I will try to change something in tactics, play aggressively, do my game, fight for every ball.
“I hope that the result will be a little bit different. But we’ll see.”
Andreeva’s serve let her down against Gauff in Madrid, facing a mouth-watering 16 break points during the match.
| Player | Aces | Double faults | Win % on first serve | Win % on second serve | Break points |
| Coco Gauff | 1 | 2 | 76% | 59% | 5/16 |
| Mirra Andreva | 4 | 3 | 57% | 33% | 2/4 |
The defeat saw Gauff extend her head-to-head lead to 3-0, as Andreeva continues her search for a first career victory against the 2023 US Open champion.
- 2025 Madrid Open QF – Coco Gauff beat Mirra Andreeva, 7-5, 6-1
- 2023 US Open 2R – Coco Gauff beat Mirra Andreeva, 6-3, 6-2
- 2023 French Open 3R – Coco Gauff beat Mirra Andreeva, 6-7, 6-1, 6-1
Only time will tell if Andreeva can begin to turn the tide when they face off for a fourth time on Wednesday, May 14.
Mirra Andreeva gives her verdict on controversial video review incident against Clara Tauson
To qualify for the quarter-finals, Andreeva had to beat Clara Tauson, which she did in three sets, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
The match will be best remembered for a controversial incident during the third set, when the lights turned on just before Andreeva hit a winner against Tauson.
Andreeva’s Danish opponent asked for a video review, which saw the point replayed.
Speaking after the match, Andreeva gave her verdict on the controversial incident.
“It was not a simple situation,” she said.
“This was on my serve, I hit a good serve, she returned it, and the lights came on just before I hit it. I hit the line, it seemed to me that she didn’t even have a chance to win it back, but she asked for a video review to see if the lights were turned on before my hit, during the rally.
“The video review showed that this was indeed the case, but as for me, in my opinion, it seemed to me that they should’ve asked me if it bothered me, because I had to hit it.
“I ended up hitting a winner, and I don’t think she had any chance of winning it back. But, probably, according to the rules, it is more correct to do so, so I just had to accept this situation and continue.”
The Russian had taken a toilet break after losing the first set against Tauson and has now revealed what she told herself before coming back to win in three.
“Yeah, I looked at myself in the mirror and I was just trying to find some words that would help me understand what to do next,” she said.
“First, I say maybe some tactical words, maybe change something, maybe just continue playing. But, mostly just some positive words, for example, keep fighting, everything is fine, everything will work out.
“I lost the first set, you can forget about it, just keep playing, everything will be fine, fight for every ball, and we’ll see what happens.
“I try to tell myself that every time, sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t.”
She’ll certainly hope to produce another strong performance when she takes on Gauff as she looks to advance to her first career Italian Open semi-final.
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