Mirra Andreeva plans to frame Andy Murray's tweet lauding her "mental strength"
The former ATP No. 1 took issue to one commentator’s remark claiming the young Russian “needs to work on the mental side” of her game and was being “too hard on herself” during her epic comeback.
An epic, three-set comeback from 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva had most tennis fans glued to their seats on Friday, as she battled back to win 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5) over Frenchwoman Diane Parry at the Australian Open.
But Andy Murray, meanwhile, was glued to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter:
Riveted by the Andreeva’s gutsy comeback from a set down and as she turned around a 1-5 deficit in the third, the former ATP No. 1 took issue to one TV commentator’s remark claiming the young Russian “needs to work on (the) mental side” of her game and was being “too hard on herself” in the tough moments.
About 30 minutes after that comment, it was game, set and match for Andreeva—and Murray had the perfect tweet ready to silence her critics.
“Maybe the reason she turned the match round is because of her mental strength,” he wrote on X. “Maybe she turned the match around because she is hard on herself and demands more of herself when she’s losing/playing badly? Winner.”
The teenager was already thrilled to be in the fourth round of the Australian Open in her tournament debut—and it’s just her second time ever reaching that stage at a Grand Slam—but she looked even more delighted to hear that her childhood idol had given her another social media shoutout.
“Honestly I didn't really think that he would watch (my) match, then after he would tweet or comment something!” Andreeva grinned during her post-match press conference.
“I will try to print it out somehow. I don't know, I will put it in a frame. I will bring it everywhere with me. I will maybe put it on the wall so I can see it every day.”
Andreeva charmed the tennis world when her Murray fandom was revealed amid her breakthrough 2023 season: She said the highlight of her historic run to the Madrid Open fourth round was catching a glimpse of Murray in player dining, and at Wimbledon she recalled being too shy to introduce herself to her idol at the All England Club.
In Melbourne, Andreeva said that Murray’s assessment of her comeback was spot on—while much has been made of the teen’s calm poise amid high-pressure situations, this time it was Andreeva’s grit and fighting spirit on display on her way on Court 3.
“Maybe being harsh on myself actually helped me. I don't know,” Andreeva mused. “I just try to think positively. This harshness, let's say, helped me with it because I am not very positive in my head usually… I just kept pushing myself. I was saying not good words to myself.
“I think that helped me, that pushed me.”
Up next, Andreeva will take on either No. 9 seed Barbora Krejcikova or Aussie qualifier Storm Hunter.