As an enthusiastic student of tennis – if not the studies that she’s still completing in parallel to her playing career – Mirra Andreeva needs no reminder that it’s 30 years since her coach, Conchita Martinez, defeated Martina Navratilova to become the 1994 Wimbledon ladies’ champion.
“She’s having a bit of a flashback this trip,” the 17-year-old Andreeva related ahead of her first round match with Brenda Fruhvirtova. “We've talked a little bit about that (Wimbledon 1994 title) and watched the final with her.
“So I put on the video from YouTube, her final against Navratilova, and she's like ‘no don't watch this moment. Start from this score in the second set’. I was like 'ah-ha. OK'. And of course, I put the moment that she didn't want on purpose, but yeah of course she tells me about the way she played.”
Martinez, who also celebrated wins over Lindsay Davenport and Lori McNeil in her Grand Slam breakthrough, became the first Spanish woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish.
Naturally, the ever-curious Andreeva has many questions for her coach about that time.
“I just asked her, ‘how did it feel?’ and ‘what did you do there?’ and ‘what did you do then?’” Andreeva added.
“She has shared some experiences and some emotions with me and it's really, really nice to hear what she was going through (at) that time.”
It’s perhaps even nicer for Andreeva to reflect on her head-turning progress since adding Martinez to her team.
After partnering with the Spaniard early in the clay-court season, Andreeva constructed the best Grand Slam campaign of her career at Roland-Garros this year. She claimed a headline-grabbing win over Victoria Azarenka in the second round and stunned two-time major champion Aryna Sabalenka to reach her first major semi-final.
It follows a heady start to Andreeva’s pro-playing career.
As a teenage qualifier at 2023 Wimbledon, Andreeva shocked a string of higher-ranked opponents – including No.22 seed Anastasia Potapova – to reach the fourth round. At the Australian Open earlier this season, she defeated her idol Ons Jabeur in another final-16 Grand Slam campaign.
Combining her crafty, creative tennis with a generous fighting spirit in achieving those milestones, Andreeva is often referenced alongside former world No.1 Martina Hingis. It’s not a comparison she minds.
“When I was younger, I wanted to play like her because I felt like we have pretty much (the) same game style, but she was kind of more aggressive than me,” noted Andreeva, explaining she likes to “build the point until the last moment.”
As she combines that approach with her coach’s vast experience, you sense that the world No.23 Andreeva is eyeing another breakthrough performance at The Championships this year.
Spirits are high for the 17-year-old, with summer holidays meaning that her off-court studies are on hold for now. It creates time for favourite activities such as reading, with Andreeva currently working her way through Gone with the Wind.
“I enjoy reading sometimes,” she smiled. “It really helps me to put some nervous moments aside.”
And should Andreeva require further support in pressure moments this Fortnight, she can look to the guidance of her Wimbledon champion coach.
