Tag: Humor

Mirra Andreeva is the first to admit that she isn’t the easiest player to work with — and coach Conchita Martínez can attest to this.

“I just can be a little pain in the ass sometimes,” the 17-year-old told press during her run to the Brisbane semifinals two weeks ago. “I’m still a kid sometimes. I can get angry.”

And if it’s not moodiness, it’s chattiness.

“I feel very comfortable telling her everything that happens in my life,” Andreeva said in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open. “I don’t know if she wants to hear it, though! But I’m very comfortable sharing with her everything that’s going on.”

That’s a reflection of the trust Andreeva and Martínez have in each other, something that’s underpinned the success of their partnership to date. Andreeva enjoys hearing Martínez’s tales from her time on tour “a long, long time ago,” and jokes that the former Wimbledon champion’s advice to her at SW19 was clearly “bad” given Andreeva’s first-round loss there last year.

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“We let ourselves joke around and have some fun,” Andreeva said. “Of course she’s very professional, she knows when the fun is over and when we need to really put the work in, for example, in a tennis court. When we’re off the tennis court, we can have some fun, but of course we also need to take it serious sometimes.”

Somewhere in between fun and serious are Andreeva’s superstitious tendencies. After defeating Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-3, in the Australian Open first round, the teenager revealed another difficult character trait.

“It’s pretty complicated to work with me, because if I start the tournament eating chicken and rice, well, I cannot change after,” she said. “I cannot take pasta or I cannot take anything else. I will always take chicken and rice. If I start like this, I’ve got to continue like this. Even if I’m tired, I have no choice, but I have to eat it.”

Andreeva’s rigidity even extends to her on-court snacks.

“Today I start with dried fruits, so it is dried fruits for Melbourne this year,” she said.

It’s all got to much for Martínez, who tried to put her foot down in the off-season. Before traveling to Australia, coach and player agreed that in 2025, there would be no more superstitious eating.

Judging from Andreeva’s comments, this hasn’t been a successful goal for her so far. But she’s not the only one letting the side down. In Brisbane, Martínez prepared Andreeva’s recovery shakes after each match. The first time she did so, she spilled the powder on the players desk — so after every match she won, Martínez would ritualistically return to the same desk to spill more powder.

“I didn’t know about this,” Andreeva said. “The girl from the players desk, she told me. I was, like, ‘OK, but you told me we stop this and you do it by yourself.’ So I guess the moment to stop it is not here yet. We’re going to continue. Maybe next year we try to avoid it. But not for now.”

The pair may have had to admit defeat on the superstition front, but it’s a rare one for Andreeva at the moment. At a career high of No.15 this week, she’s no longer the new kid on the block. The novelty factor has worn off, and it’s been replaced by the confidence of a real challenger.

“Even before, when I was playing Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2024, I was still trying to prove people that I belong here, I’m going to play with you, and this is my place,” Andreeva said.

“Now, I feel like everyone already knows that. I also feel like I’m a WTA player, so I’m here, I’m doing my job, and I like what I’m doing. I feel like yes, now I do belong here at the end.”