Andreeva: "I am more at ease because I am no longer so hard on myself"

Mirra Andreeva is a strong contender to win the title at the US Open. The pupil of Conchita Martínez is playing her best tennis in New York. Until now, she had never exceeded the third round, and in this edition, she has already reached her first quarter-finals. A milestone accomplished after a great victory over Anastasia Potapova (5-7, 6-4, 6-3), which was overshadowed by Potapova's injury and tears in the last game of the match.

In fact, in the press conference following her victory, she did not hesitate to praise her compatriot's performance, whom she has known for many years and admits to having a great relationship with. She also revealed the key to her comeback, as well as her new mindset after winning Roland Garros. Meanwhile, she analyzed her two possible rivals in the quarter-finals: Coco Gauff and Iva Jovic.

Andreeva explained how she came back against Potapova at the US Open

"I felt that in the first set I still had some opportunities now and then. I don't know. At first, I felt that the wind and the shadow from the roof were affecting me a bit. I felt somewhat uncomfortable. And then she also started playing very well. So the first set went her way, but in the second, I just tried to be much more aggressive, to take more initiative, because I felt that she was the one doing that more in the first set."

"I tried to turn it around a bit and also vary my game more, to break the rhythm a bit, because she is a great hitter. I think she likes it when the ball comes to her quickly because she handles it quite well. I simply tried to combine being aggressive but at the same time breaking the rhythm, and I felt that it worked. With Conchita, we decided to leave it for the third set, and that was my plan."

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Andreeva praised Potapova

"I remember the first time I saw her. It was in Monastir, a 250 tournament, and I had a wildcard and was playing against her in the first round. For me, Anastasia was always like a prodigy. She came to the circuit very young. She also got many victories. I remember we were all watching and cheering when she won the junior Wimbledon. I remember watching that match. For me, she was always like a little star that I looked up to."

"The first time, she just beat me. After that, I understood that she was a very tough opponent, but at the same time, she was very nice. She said many nice things to me. Since then, we started training together. And just like that, the more you see each other and the more time you spend together, the more you talk about everything, you comment on everything. So I feel that we have a good connection off the court."

Andreeva, surprised by Gauff's new ‘weapon’

"We all know that Coco is a great fighter, so I feel that no point will be easy if I play against her. So, no matter what happens, the match is going to be tough. Plus, I think she is improving even more now. Her serve is better. I was watching a bit of how she was playing at the beginning of the tournament. It seemed to me that she was trying to come to the net more, to be more aggressive."

"So, obviously, it won’t be easy if I play against her. Also, with the local crowd, it's definitely going to be a tough match. If she wins, we'll try to prepare as best as possible to show a good level of tennis and for me to play my best version and, hopefully, achieve the result I want."

Andreeva has never faced Jovic

"She is also a great player. How long has she been on the circuit? A year for sure? So she is my age. She is also learning a lot, like me, gaining experience. I think we have more in common because we are practically the same age."

"Moreover, she is having a great season so far, starting in Australia, playing in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time. She also has the support of the local crowd. So I feel she is trying to play very aggressively. She looks for her shots. She is trying to be brave. I watched a bit of her match against Alex Eala the other day. It was a very good match. I don't know. I already have a little idea of how each of them plays, but then I passed that work to Conchita. She has to take care of that."

Andreeva explained what she thought after losing the first set

"After losing the first set, I just tried to tell myself: 'Okay, no matter what happens, at least I'm going to try to look for my shots.' I wanted to go to the bathroom, but then I didn’t want to lose too much time. So I thought: 'Better I sit down. I don't want to move anywhere.' I decided to stay calm and not expend unnecessary energy."

What an athlete 🤸‍♀️ https://t.co/oC60XdHmOm pic.twitter.com/FQLOullqTN

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2026

"I also looked to Conchita for some advice. Then I just tried to tell myself that if she won, at least I had to make it hard for her. That if she won, she would remember it was a difficult victory, that it wasn't easy. I repeated that to myself and, with that mindset, I felt that after that, it was easier to win more games, get more points, and be more positive with myself."

Andreeva reveals her new mindset

"When I arrived at this tournament, I really didn't know what to expect, because my results here hadn't been the best. My best result was the third round. I thought: 'Well, at least something will happen.' But I didn't expect too much. For some reason, I don’t know, it seemed like I still wasn't able to find my rhythm here. And now, for the moment, thank God, things are going quite well. But I don't know. I think maybe I'm calmer in some way because I’m not so demanding of myself anymore."

"Before, after winning Roland Garros, I felt that every match I played I had to win because I had won the most important tournament of my life. Now I have to go out there and win every match. Now I just approach it thinking: 'I’ve won a tournament, not a Grand Slam.' I don’t know, whatever it is, but it’s not a Grand Slam. So I try to forget that it was a Grand Slam, not to think too much about it, not to overthink it and just let it pass, be calm, and enjoy. This is how I approach things now."

Andreeva highlighted the importance of her psychologist and their conversation in Cincinnati

"I think it happened after a conversation with my psychologist, which was in Toronto or Cincinnati. Before this tournament. I think it was in Cincinnati, before the tournament started, and we just talked about it. I told her how I felt, that I was very stressed, that I was too demanding of myself, that it seemed I couldn’t allow myself to enjoy as I did before."

"And that was what she told me, what she suggested. I felt that it helped me a lot when I was training and when I played matches. Then I just tried to convince myself not to have other thoughts, not to overthink and question what my team or she told me. She said it was another tournament. Okay, it was another tournament. I believe you. I commit to that. I just tried to focus on doing what they told me so my head wouldn’t be filled with other thoughts. That’s what I try to do to this day, and I feel it’s working," concluded a renewed Mirra Andreeva who is going all in at this US Open.
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Andreeva: "Estoy más tranquila porque ya no soy tan exigente conmigo misma"