Mirra Andreeva was almost a teenager when in 2023 she stood out at the age of 15 at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Russian, one of the most promising rackets on the planet, reached the fourth round of the tournament, in which she lost against the eventual champion, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka. A year later, after joining Conchita Martínez as coach a few weeks ago, Andreeva (43rd in the world) reached this Monday, the day of her 17th birthday, a new height in her very short career by defeating 7-6 (2) and 6-4 (1h 42m) to the Italian Jasmine Paolini (13th) to meet for the first time in her life in the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000.

The Russian tennis player has upset her rival, who had a set point in the first set to the rest, thanks to her solidity from the baseline and the firmness of her backhand. Before, she had punished the American Taylor Townsend (58th), the Czech Linda Noskova (31st) and, above all, a top 10, the Czech Marketa Vondrousova (7th), the last Wimbledon winner, whom she defeated in two sets (7-5, 6-1, 1h 16m). Right-handed and 1.71 meters tall, she will face Sabalenka, the world number two, on the next step. “Last year I was not mentally prepared to play against her, but this year I think there could be a good match because she improved physically and mentally. I know what I have to do to respond in difficult situations,” she warned today in statements to the media after her victory.

The Russian is such a precocious talent that she has established herself at the top of tennis when she can’t even go to all the tournaments she would like. The regulations of the WTA – the Women’s Tennis Association, the governing body of the women’s circuit – limit the events that minors can attend. The rule (called in English Age eligibility rule) is thinking about preventing teenagers from overloading themselves with games and suffering from too much overexposure. At 16 years old, the maximum is 12 tournaments; with 17, up to 16. In 2023, Andreeva gave up the first quarter of the competition and chose clay, her favorite surface, for her emergence into the elite.

Her ascension began on the clay of Madrid with three victories — she joined Cici Bellis (Miami 2015) and Coco Gauff (Miami 2019) as the youngest to win a match in a WTA 1000 — but her emergence continued in the following tournaments. . she and she already knows what it is to add wins in all the Grand Slams. At Roland Garros she reached the third round, at Wimbledon she reached the fourth and at the US Open she fell in the second. The WTA gave her the award for the revelation player of the year. At the start of this season, the Russian put in a formidable performance at the Australian Open against Ons Jabeur – a triple Grand Slam finalist – whom she knocked down in just 54 minutes: 6-0 and 6-2. Since 1968, when the Open Era was born, never had someone so young beaten a 6-0 player in a major tournament. top 10 (the Tunisian was then 6th in the world, now it is 9th).

During her performance last year in Madrid, Andreeva spoke precisely of her admiration for Jabeur, a talented and versatile player in these times when power and cannon shots are the majority register on the circuit. “I can compare my game with Jabeur’s. I change the rhythms, look for effects and do a lot of drops. My backhand is my best weapon,” said the Russian, who also has devotion to Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray and, above all, idolizes Roger Federer. Born and raised in Krasnoyarsk, she chose Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy — like the Russian Daniil Medvedev or the Danish Holger Rune — in Cannes to develop. Now she has teamed up with Conchita Martínez—former world number two and winner of Roland Garros in 2000—to improve on dirt, the surface on which the Spaniard triumphed as a tennis player and coach. When Conchita went to Garbiñe Muguruza, the Spanish-Venezuelan conquered the clay of Paris (2016) and the grass of London (2017).

“The first thing we started working on was cutting, because she used it very well, especially here on land. We have worked a lot on my cut and I feel that now I can use it, that it is part of my game, that it helps me change the rhythm of the exchanges,” Andreeva said in Madrid about Conchita’s arrival to her team. The first tournament in which they were together was in Rouen (France) two weeks ago, where the Russian lost in the quarterfinals against the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina (32nd). “(Conchita) brings much more positivity to my game and my head. She has taught me to find happiness in the little things I do well on the court. I still have a lot to learn and a lot to improve on my tennis, and I’m sure those are things she wants to work on. I’m really enjoying it and I hope we have a great future together; We will see how everything works,” she noted.

The teenage prodigy, who has a sister three years older than her – Erika – who is fighting to enter the top 100 in the world, is the youngest of the Top 100. With a collection of precocity records and seen by many experts as a potential number one in terms of her tennis and her mature physique, the Russian will have to face all the odds that weigh on her in a sport where the mental aspect is essential to reach to the top and stay. The most recent example of the volatility of the new female figures on the circuit is in the English Emma Raducanu, who at the age of 18 won the 2021 US Open and today wanders out of the spotlight, at number 221 in the classification WTA, for its problems withstanding the pressure.

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes in Facebook and xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.