Mirra Andreeva on the Importance of Family Growing up on Court and Her Aspirations for the Future

Okay, my name is Mira Andreeva. I was born in 2007. I'm a WTA tennis player and this is Behind the Curtain. What and when was your first WTA match? I remember my first WTA match was in 2022. I was given a wild card to Monastir 250. I remember I came there super inspired and I was super excited to play my first WTA tournament. I remember I was playing against Potapova, Nastia. It was a super tough match for me because I knew that she was a young star when I was younger. It was kind of a super big match for me. I lost in three sets, but I just remember that I was just so excited to go on court and play against her. That match I will remember for a long time. When I was younger, I would say definitely my favorite surface was clay court because almost throughout all year I was practicing on clay more. But yes, throughout my career it has changed and now I can say that my favorite surface is hard court. Maybe because I won my two tournaments on hard court also, but now I can say that I prefer hard court a little bit more. What has been your proudest moment on court? Okay, my proudest moment on court was when I played my first WTA 1000 in Madrid. I was also given a wild card. It was in 2023. I remember I was 15 and I was just super nervous coming into the tournament and playing my first match on that clay. I remember I was playing against Leila Fernandez and it was also a super big match for me because I remember I watched her play in US Open Finals and I was rooting for her a lot. It was also a big match for me and I remember when I won I just felt so relieved and also so happy. Those feelings are going to stick with me for a very, very long time. What's the biggest lesson tennis has taught you? I can say that tennis has taught me that you always probably should be who you are on and off the court. But sometimes on court people change and you should never think that the person that is on the court is exactly the same person that is going to be off the court. Because on court I think that sometimes we're completely different people and I think that people should never judge us when we do something on court. Because sometimes the emotions and feelings and maybe the fear or I don't know the adrenaline can change us completely. And off the court we're completely different people so I think that tennis has taught me that I actually have probably two personalities in me on court and off court. So that was kind of fun to discover and I'm still trying to learn who I am on court and who I am off the court. When you close your eyes before walking out what do you picture? What do you think of? Before a match usually when I close my eyes I just try to imagine that I'm Roger or Rafa. Like you know those legend players that they fight for every point and they hit those amazing shots that you know in the end go into highlight videos. So I'm like I try to imagine that I'm one of those people and just I try to go on court with this kind of mindset. And usually I have like a silly song that is in my mind that I sing along you know throughout my whole match. So something like a mix of these two feelings. What song do you sing? I don't know it's like it depends you know every day it's a different song. But I remember in New York when I was playing my first match I was playing on Louis Armstrong it was night session. In my mind there was a song I think it was Uptown Girl. What's the one memory you carry with you before every match? Probably I would say the memory of me being a little girl always wanting to compete on the big tournaments and play against big players. So when I go on court and I play against someone that is a top ranked or someone that has won a couple of grand slams. I always remind myself that that's what I really wanted since I was really young. So that gives me extra motivation to go out there and try to beat those best players in the world. I think that those ups and downs that I had in my career so far just showed me that we're not robots. We're humans and we can have bad days even bad months or even I don't know bad years. And it's okay because you know we're human and it's fine and we don't have to be perfect. And I think that no one is perfect and I feel like you cannot go on and win like three or four tournaments in a row. It can happen sometimes but it's just super hard to do and it's fine if something doesn't go your way. Because if you keep working hard and you keep believing in yourself everything will come sooner or later. When you're away from competition what parts of yourself do you most enjoy expressing? Honestly when I'm away from competition I just love to spend time with my family. And I also kind of forget a little bit what actually a small girl I am when I'm around my family. Because when I travel I try to be like a super responsible grown-up person that is responsible for herself, responsible for the things that she does. I have to be very careful with what I do starting from eating and finishing with what I do on court. So when I'm spending time with my family away from tournaments I just forget that I'm actually a little girl, a little sister, a little daughter to my parents. And it just feels nice to be kind of the smallest person in our family. Do you feel like the world is just beginning to see the real mirror beyond the results and if so what do you want them to know? I think that yes now maybe the world starts to see who I really am. And I want them to know that I'm a very kind and loving person. I'm open with the people that I trust but I can be a little bit shy and close with the people that I don't really know well. But I'm always trying to be supportive to other people. I'm always smiling because I just love what I do, I love my life. So I don't have any reason to be grumpy or I don't know cranky sometimes. I just want the world to know that I'm just a nice and open hearted person and that is who I am. As you come into your own how do you keep your love for the game while also protecting your love for the life of the court? I feel like I don't really need to protect that. I feel that the love for the game is what I was born with and it's going to always be with me no matter what's happening. Because even if I lose a tough match or even if something goes wrong I always know that my feeling to the sport is not going to change. Because I love what I do and I feel like my life just depends on it so I don't have any other feelings than love. Obviously after the matches that I lose sometimes even if it's tough I have like two or three days when I think that this is it. This period I stop playing tennis, I finish my career, it's fine, I don't want to go out there anymore. But then in two or three days it's like how could I even say that? And then I go to practice and all those words and feelings that I used to say and feel after I lose just go away. And I don't know just start practicing again because I love what I do and I love the sport. I know, I know.