AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 12, 2025

Mirra Andreeva

Press Conference

M. ANDREEVA/M. Bouzkova

6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Mirra, congrats on the win. How does it feel to get that one under your belt?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Thank you. Yes, it's always very special, the first win on the slam. I'm just super happy with the way I played today. Super happy to play more matches in Melbourne.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Does it feel very different to be winning your first round here now to a year ago?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: I would say no. I still, I have the same emotions. I'm very happy that I won the match. I think that these emotions are always going to be the same. I think I'm always going to be same happy after each match I win.

So for me it's pretty much the same if we compare to last year.

Q. Where do you feel you have improved as a player in terms of the last 12 months?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, I would say that I have improved everywhere (smiling), but everywhere for a little bit. We improve my serve. We improve my forehand, my backhand. I now also like to step in and finish the point at the net. I'm not afraid to step in the court and to go forward and to try to be even more aggressive.

So we have improved everywhere, I would say, because, well, we have been working hard on those elements of my game, so I can see the difference.

I hope that you can see it, as well.

Q. How do you feel prematch? Do you have the same meals you always eat?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Yes. It's actually pretty complicated to work with me, because if I start the tournament eating chicken and rice, well, I cannot change after. You know, I cannot take pasta or I cannot take anything else. I will always take chicken and rice.

I have a pretty special thing. I like to eat rice with a bit of parmesan cheese on top. I don't know. I have never seen anyone doing that, but I really like it.

Yeah, since the start of the tournament, if I start like this, I've got to continue like this. Even if I'm tired, I have no choice, but I have to eat it.

Q. What about during the match?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: During a match now I try to eat the dried fruits. And then if the match is longer, I also have some gels, ISO gels. I always start with dry fruits and sometimes just normal foods like melon or watermelon. It just depends on what I want.

As I said, today I start with dried fruits, so it is dried fruits for Melbourne this year.

Q. Is that superstition?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Yes. Well, we have been talking with Conchita about it. She said, Well, this year, no more, we stop.

You know, in Brisbane, there was a moment, I won my first match, and she was doing the recovery shake for me, and she spilled the powder all over the players desk. Since then she was coming there after each match I won, she was coming there and she was spilling the powder. I didn't know about this.

So the girl from the players desk, she told me, and I was, like, Okay, but you told me we stop this and you do it by yourself.

So I guess the moment to stop it is not here yet. We're going to continue. Maybe next year we try to avoid it. But not for now (smiling).

Q. When I spoke to you in Paris you said Conchita was very good separating the on-court from the off-court, that she can be serious when she needs to in practice but then she's good for a laugh off the court. How important is this distinction and how important is it that she gets your jokes?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, for me, I really like our relationship, because, well, I like to joke around. Sometimes I just, you know, I don't really like to be very serious. I always try to smile and laugh. I don't know, it's just easier like this.

Actually I was surprised in the beginning that she's also pretty much like me. And since we first started working together, I have noticed that she's always also trying to, you know, say a joke or just laugh sometimes.

I have actually discovered it since the beginning. I really like the way our relationship is now, you know, improving day by day. And I also like that she's still separating those things when we're on court. We try to be serious. We try to work. But as soon as we get off the court, we always try to joke around and laugh, so our atmosphere is not very serious and not strict.

Q. You have spoken previously about your admiration for past players, Hingis, Graf. What aspects of their game...

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, I always like the way Martina Hingis was playing. I have seen some similarities, I would say. She's also playing smart. I would say she played smart and I'm also playing smart as her.

I'm trying to, you know, play smart, but I think that the difference is that she was never afraid to, you know, come in and finish the point and be more aggressive.

Now I'm just starting to learn how to do it. I'm just, you know, the first matches of the year I'm starting to, I'm trying to force myself to finish the point at the net or to go, to step in the court. I would say that when I watched her play, she would always, as soon as she has an opportunity, she would always come in and try to finish the point even more aggressive.

And Steffi Graf, I would say that she's a tricky player with that slice. And she actually plays, I would say, pretty much like Conchita with a slice, and then she would turn around to her forehand. That is a bit different, so I'm not using a lot of slices (smiling).

But I can see a bit of similarities with me and Martina Hingis.

Q. Do you still feel new on the tour or do you feel like this is all regular and usual now?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, I would say that now I don't feel like I'm a new player on the tour. I kind of feel like, well, I'm here now. Even before, when I was playing Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2024, I was still kind of trying to prove people that, you know, I belong here, I'm going to play with you, and this is my place.

Now I feel like everyone already knows that. I also feel like, well, I'm a WTA player, so I'm here, I'm doing my job, and I like what I'm doing. I feel like yes, now I do belong here at the end.

Q. Can I just ask how soon do you learn who your next opponent is going to be? Obviously you've got to find out who wins, but when do you want to know?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, I try to never look who I play. When I see that the draw is coming out I obviously see who are my first-round opponents and I can see who are my second-round opponents because they are actually pretty close.

Actually here, I don't know. I haven't looked. I just saw that I would play Marie in the first round and then, okay, I don't want to know, and I actually don't know yet. I have to ask Conchita if she knows. But usually I just like to see my first- and second-round opponents. Then after, I find out who I will play next after the match. I try to take it slow and easy like this.