"It's always with me" - Mirra Andreeva reveals how she has immortalized Andy Murray's praise for her in unique fashion
Mirra Andreeva recently spoke about how she has immortalized Andy Murray's praise for her.
The 16-year-old Andreeva, who will turn 17 on Monday, April 29, is currently in action at the ongoing Mutua Madrid Open. The Russian battled past Taylor Townsend and Linda Noskova to seal her spot in the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament. She is set to face reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova next.
Following her three-sets victory over Noskova, Andreeva sat down for an interview with the Tennis Channel. Host Prakash Amritraj asked Andreeva about her feelings about Andy Murray being her fan.
In response, the Russian said that she now has a picture frame featuring Murray's praise for her during this year's Australian Open. Andreeva also revealed that one of her friends gifted her the frame.
"When I said that I will put his comment in a frame, I actually have a frame now with his comment inside. It was a gift from my friend and she gave me a frame with his comment inside and it's always with me. It's in my bag. So, yeah, when I said that I was not joking. We did it for real," Andreeva told the Tennis Channel.
After Andreeva's gritty win over Diane Parry at the Australian Open, Murray heaped praise on the youngster on social media. The former ATP World No. 1 lauded the Russian's steely mentality as he took a swipe at a commentator who was critical of Andreeva during the match for not appearing mentally strong enough.
"Maybe she turned the match around because she is hard on herself and demands more of herself when she’s losing/playing badly? Winner," Murray wrote at the time on X (formerly Twitter).
After learning about what Murray wrote about her, Andreeva expressed her delight during a press conference and said that she would put the Brit's comment in a frame and carry it with her on the tour.
"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 said.
Mirra Andreeva's love for Andy Murray came to the fore at the 2023 French Open
Andreeva made her Grand Slam main draw debut at last year's French Open after battling through the qualifying rounds. She made a clinical start as she brushed aside Alison Riske-Amritraj in the first round.
Following her win over Riske-Amritraj, Andreeva told the Tennis Channel that Murray had wished her luck for her French Open campaign in response to her message to the Brit following his triumph at an ATP Challenger tournament.
"After he won a challenger, I texted him,” she revealed on Tuesday. “I said, ‘Congratulations.’ He actually answered me, so I was really happy about it. He said, ‘Thank you, and good luck in Roland Garros.’ Maybe that's why I'm playing that good now!" Andreeva told the Tennis Channel.