How LeBron and Federer inspired Russian adolescent Andreeva in the history of tennis – Firstpost

Inspired by LeBron James and Roger Federer, Mirra Andreeva, 17, Russian, finished a week of fairy tale in Dubai by becoming the youngest champion WTA 1000 with victory over Clara Tauson on Saturday.

After having ousted three winners of the Grand Chelem, including Iga Swiatek, the second seeded, en route to the final, Andreeva ended Tauson’s own dream race at the tournament with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 victory against the Danish.

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It was a performance that has not only won Andreeva a first WTA 1000 trophy in Andreeva, but also obtained its debut among the first 10 with the Russian which should reach the new number when the new rankings are published on Monday.

Andreeva reveals the influence of “king” James “

Andreeva admitted that she did not feel best on the field in the final, but was inspired by the interviews she looked at from the legend of the NBA James talking about the way the champions can find ways to win even without their A game.

“I just said to myself:” You can either let this negativity enter your head and kill yourself, or you can choose to be 100% mentally and fight for each point and if something does not happen, well, okay, you forget it and you play a point at one point, “said Andreeva.

“I listened to a lot of interviews from LeBron James, and he said:” It is easy to be confident and play well when everything goes, but what makes you a champion is when you give the best of your best when you don’t feel good. “So that’s what I tried to do today.

Andreeva also revealed that she had watched the protruding facts of Roger Federer’s final victory in Australia in 2017 against Rafael Nadal before his games this week, inspired by the Grand Swiss.

“I was looking at some protruding facts. I said to myself: ‘shit, how can he play like that? It’s something extraordinary, “she said.

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Tauson was herself a giant in Dubai, eliminating the world number one Aryna Sabalenka en route to the largest of her career.

The 22 -year -old has entered the conflict with Andreeva at the top of the tour with 15 match victories so far this season.

She sought to add a second title to her counting in 2025, and fourth in the general classification, but Andreeva had other ideas, because she overcome her opponent with big strokes in an hour and 46 minutes of prowess entirely in the field.

In the youngest WTA 1000 final since the category was introduced in 2009, Andreeva played a break in equality almost perfect to take the lead after 60 minutes of play.

It increased the bet in the second set, breaking twice for an advantage of 5-1 and served the victory at the first time.

On Monday, Andreeva will become the first 17 -year -old to be ranked in the top 10 since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007.

During the trophy ceremony, Andreeva congratulated Tauson and thanked his coach Conchita Martinez and his family for their support. The affable teenager then surprised the crowd by paying tribute to her.

“Finally and above all, I would like to thank myself. I know what I was dealing with, so I want to thank myself for always believing in me, I want to thank myself for never stopping and always faced the pressure, “said Andreeva.

“Today, it was not easy but I chose to be 100%there, so I thank myself for that.”

In addition to the 1,000 classification points she received for winning the Crown of Dubai, Andreeva pocketed $ 597,000 at a price, that she said that she will give her father, since she is still 17 years old and does not manage her own finances.

The Russian had set himself a goal before the start of the season to finish the year classified in the top 10 – a target that she now checked her list in the second month of her campaign.

Tauson admitted that she had lacked steam at the end of a week of taxation and revealed that she had spent almost three hours a day with the physios of the tournament to deal with various physical problems.

“I can’t tell you where it doesn’t hurt at the moment,” said the Danish.