French Open 2024: 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva makes it to the first Grand Slam Quarter-Final

Tennis star Mirra Andreeva made it to the French Open 2024 quarterfinals, becoming the second youngest player of this century to do so. Notably, the prodigy overcame Varvara Gracheva of Russia 7-5, 6-2 in the fourth round of the marquee event. Sesil Karatantcheva, at 15 years and 288 days, continues to be the youngest person to have advanced to the Roland Garros quarterfinals.

The list of elites also includes Nicole Vaidisova, Maria Sharapova, and Lina Krasnoroutskaya. Andreeva lost badly in the Australian Open Round of 16 earlier this year, but she has since improved. Andreeva was ecstatic after the victory, but she also acknowledged that playing in front of the French crowd was difficult. The young girl stated that she had been working hard to master the skill of remaining composed under stress.

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who hasn't dropped a set in the current hard-court major, will be Andreeva's next opponent, so she has her work cut out for her. On the WTA circuit, Sabalenka also had a 2-0 advantage over Andreeva.

Meanwhile, Andreeva made her Grand Slam debut and advanced to the third round. Since then, she has advanced to the Australian Open and Wimbledon final sixteen.Her remarkable run at Roland Garros has been made even more intriguing by the fact that she is the only unseeded women's player left in the competition.

We have to thank my coach for this. It’s also her work: Mirra Andreeva

“It feels amazing. It’s always tough to play a friend. I knew it would be a tough battle not only game-wise but mentally. It was a bit tough to play against the French crowd. I’m really happy I managed to go through it. Thank you for the support. Not from everyone, but some of you,” Andreeva said in the on-court interview.

“We have to thank my coach for this. It’s also her work... We’ve worked on it together. The last few months we’ve been working together. I feel like I’m improving. I’m really happy you can see that I stay calm in the tough moments. I’ve been working on it really hard. I’m really happy it pays off,” she added further.