"One of the best coaches" - Boris Becker hails Mirra Andreeva's coach Conchita Martinez after Russian's French Open QF win over Aryna Sabalenka
Boris Becker hailed Mirra Andreeva's coach Conchita Martinez following the 17-year-old's win over Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals of the French Open. The Russian produced a splendid performance to win 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 and reach her maiden Grand Slam semifinal.
Martinez started working with Andreeva this April. The collaboration began as a trial at the Open de Rouen, and it worked well as far as the Russian was concerned, as she reached the quarterfinals. She followed this up with a quarterfinal run at the Madrid Open.
So far at the ongoing French Open, it seems that Martinez's influence has had a profound impact on Andreeva. The 17-year-old Russian has played some highly effective tennis so far, beating two seeded players in Victoria Azarenka (No. 19 seed) and more recently, Sabalenka (No. 2 seed).
Recently, tennis journalist Jose Morgado took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote:
"Conchita Martinez is a great coach."
Former World No. 1 Boris Becker reposted Morgado's comments and rated Martinez among the best coaches in tennis right now.
"One of the best coaches in tennis," Becker wrote.
"Me and Conchita Martinez had a plan to beat Aryna Sabalenka, but I didn't remember anything during the match" - Mirra Andreeva
In a post-match, on-court interview with Mats Wilander, Mirra Andreeva said that she and Martinez had hatched a plan to give her the best chance of winning against Sabalenka. However, she joked that by the time her match against the World No. 2 had started, she had forgotten about it.
"Yeah, me and my coach, we had a plan today, but again, I didn't remember anything during the match," Andreeva said.
Andreeva's win saw her become the youngest woman to make it to the semifinals at Roland Garros since the great Martina Hingis in 1997. The Russian is set to face Jasmine Paolini in the semifinals next.
The Italian also reached the final four of a Major for the first time in her career by beating fourth seed Elena Rybakina 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Andreeva has the edge over the Italian going into the contest owing to her 7-6(2), 6-4 win in the fourth round of the Madrid Open.
Whoever out of the two wins the match will face either Coco Gauff or Iga Swiatek in the French Open final.