Mirra Andreeva says what the difference is between playing Aryna Sabalenka compared to Iga Swiatek after beating them both

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Mirra Andreeva is enjoying the best week of her career in Dubai, as she prepares for her first WTA 1000 final.

The 17-year-old Russian star has impressed at the Dubai Tennis Championships, securing three wins over former Major champions.

Having eased past Elina Avanesyan in round one, Andreeva beat Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion in the second round, 7-5, 6-0, to book her place in the last 16.

A win against America’s Peyton Stearns followed for Andreeva, as she looked ahead to just a second career meeting with the world number two.

In the shock of the tournament, Andreeva took down Iga Swiatek in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, leveling their head-to-head at 1-1.

Andreeva then beat Elena Rybakina in a three-set thriller to advance to her first career WTA 1000 final, against Clara Tauson.

Having now beaten the WTA Tour’s top two players, Andreeva took the time to give her honest opinions on the world number one and two.

Mirra Andreeva says Aryna Sabalenka has ‘power’ while Iga Swiatek has ‘placement’

During her post-match press conference, following her quarter-final win in Dubai, Andreeva was asked to explain the differences between playing Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.

“Well, I think that Aryna [Sabalenka], she’s a very, very powerful player,” she said.

“She will always go for her shots.

“I wouldn’t even say that she plays flat because she has such an active spin on her shots.

“For me that’s a difficulty to kind of keep up in the point against her.”

Andreeva then said what Swiatek does that is ‘different’ to Sabalenka.

“With Iga, I think that it’s not about the power, but it’s about the placement of her shot because she plays very close to the lines and with a great shape,” she said.

“The ball goes very, very fast.

“The spin that she gives to the ball makes the ball bounce even higher.

“They are a bit different.”

The Russian youngster has now played seven matches against the world’s top two players, coming out victorious on two occasions.

Andreeva secured her only career victory over Sabalenka at the 2024 French Open, as she advanced to her first Major semi-final with a three-set win over the Belarussian.

Barring her win on the Parisian clay, Andreeva hasn’t enjoyed too much success against the world number one, as she jokingly ‘hopes’ not to play her again this year.

“I don’t know, I’ve played Aryna so many times last year and this year twice already,” she said.

“I hope that I’m not going to play Aryna that often

“We’re going to see but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Mirra Andreeva explains what she ‘knew’ she had to do to beat Iga Swiatek in Dubai

Speaking after her quarter-final win, Andreeva explained what she knew she had to do to beat Swiatek.

“Well, I knew that if I don’t play aggressive by myself that she’s going to go and kill me,” she said.

“I think everybody knows that she likes to take the ball early.

“She doesn’t give time to her opponents, she always tries to be the first one to attack.

“My game plan was just to play my game, that I don’t have to try and go for something that I don’t usually do.

“I just had to keep playing my game, maybe sometimes I just told myself or kind of forced myself to be more aggressive.”

Andreeva then revealed the tactical change she made mid-match that helped her secure the win.

“It depends on the day, but sometimes I like to take my time,” she said.

“Sometimes, I don’t know, I do 20 drop shots in the match.

“I think today I did only one or two.

“They didn’t really work, so I stopped doing them right away.

“Yeah, just told myself to, again, go for it and forced myself to play aggressive.”

Andreeva did indeed use the drop-shot less against Swiatek, hitting a tournament-low two drop shots in her quarter-final match.

Only time will tell how Andreeva fares with her drop shots when she takes on Tauson for the title on Saturday, February 22.