Andreeva apologizes for her insults to the public: "I am not proud of how I handled it"

Andrés Tomás Rico | 10 Mar 2026 | 09.00

Andreeva apologizes for her insults to the audience: "I'm not proud of how I handled it." Photo: Getty Images

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Mirra Andreeva is in trouble. The Russian tennis player, one of the biggest promises on the WTA circuit and one of the best players in the world, is going through a crisis of form, results, and confidence. This has been evident at the beginning of 2026, where we are not seeing the cheerful and aggressive player. Her recent defeat at Indian Wells, which prevented her from defending the title, against Katerina Siniakova, confirms this.

However, the most striking aspect was not her defeat but her reaction to it as she left the court in Indian Wells, addressing the crowd with a "F**k you all", confirming that the Russian is going through a tough period by not meeting the expectations placed on her. About her ugly gesture, Siniakova's high level, and the difficult moment she is going through, she spoke in the press conference after her defeat.

Praises the level displayed by Siniakova

"She is a tough opponent. She plays a lot of doubles, so she has very good hands and skill. I had never played against her before. It was a tough match, of course. It wasn't my best day in terms of how I played, but credit also has to go to her. She played well and showed good tennis on the court. I wish her the best for the rest of the tournament."

Mirra Andreeva apologizes for her insult towards the Indian Wells crowd

"I was obviously going through a lot of emotions after the defeat. But I'm not proud of how I handled it. I'm not proud of how I dealt with it in the end. It's something I really need to work on soon. Not in the distant future, but as soon as I have the opportunity. I hope I can work on it and improve in that aspect too."

Explains that it was not directed at the crowd

"It was towards myself, towards everyone in general. After losing, I get very angry, so sometimes I say those things to myself. Primarily to myself, of course, but then it was just anger coming out, a lot of emotions. It wasn't really directed at anyone."

After the tough defeat, she had to play doubles with Mboko

"I was in the locker room watching Reels on Instagram, trying to distract myself and stop thinking about the match. Besides that, I was preparing for the doubles because obviously I lost my singles match, but I'm not going to go out on the doubles court and let myself go just because I don't feel like playing."

"I had to calm down, get ready for the doubles, warm up... Then we went out on the court with Mboko. I had a lot of fun. It was nice that we also won the match. Today was also a real battle. She helped me feel a little better at least by winning the doubles. With her, it was easy to forget a bit about the singles match while we were on the court."

In her last three defeats, she has suffered three comebacks

"I think in the last three matches I lost, I was well ahead on the scoreboard and had many opportunities. Starting with the defeat in Doha against Mboko, then against Amanda in Dubai, and now here. There were many opportunities that I didn't take advantage of. I will discuss it with my team. We haven't talked about the match yet. We will just talk and see what the best way is to handle these situations, and work to improve."

Looks to Serena Williams for guidance on facing defeats

"In fact, I've been thinking about this recently. I think someone who handled defeats very well was Serena Williams. I've never seen her angry or reacting poorly. I even remember Grand Slam finals she lost and she always smiled and was happy for her opponent for winning the match and the trophy. Maybe it's something I can also try to learn. We'll see how it goes for me," concludes a Mirra Andreeva who is struggling to manage the pressure and expectations at 18 years old.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Andreeva pide perdón por sus insultos al público: "No estoy orgullosa de cómo lo gestioné"