INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Mirra Andreeva is coming for women’s tennis. Or maybe she has already taken it.
The toughest task in women’s tennis these days is beating Iga Swiatek on the red clay of Roland Garros, but Andreeva, the 17-year-old Russian, accomplished what was fast becoming maybe the second toughest one: beating Swiatek at Indian Wells.
Showing a steeliness and sophistication far beyond her age, Andreeva recovered from getting steamrolled in the second set and fended off a Swiatek charge in the third to beat the defending champion 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-3 on a breezy Friday afternoon in the main stadium at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
For Andreeva, the win is the latest highlight in a month that has been filled with them. The youngest player in the top 100, she won her first 1,000-level tournament — just below the Grand Slams— in Dubai in February. Now, in her very next competition, she is a match away from winning her second. And at both events, she has had to knock off Swiatek, the dominant player of the past three years, on the way to the final.
Andreeva did more than just beat Swiatek; she broke her mind. She did what Swiatek has so often done for so long, especially on this slow, gritty hard court that bounces the ball high and right into her strike zone, allowing her to spin it back and make it rise right at her opponents’ eyes.
Swiatek did that for much of the afternoon, but she missed plenty, too, often while under pressure from Andreeva. She swatted balls in anger, complained to the umpire about how she was managing the match and snapped at her coaches sitting courtside.
Swiatek lost her serve three times in the final set. On the final point, she sent a backhand into the net and Andreeva marching on to the final.
(Photo of Mirra Andreeva: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)
