THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 9, 2025

Mirra Andreeva

Press Conference

B. BENCIC/M. Andreeva

7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Mirra, tough day today. Give us your thoughts on the match.

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Yeah, obviously I'm a bit sad. Not a bit. I am sad that I lost, but I just felt like she was playing good today. At some point I also felt like I could have played better, maybe a little bit more focused, maybe a little bit less mistakes, more aggressive.

Yeah, today is the hard day, but I can take a lot of positives from these two weeks, for sure. We're going to move on and improve.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What are some of those positives that you can take from the two weeks?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, I felt like my level's been rising since the first match that I played here. I also feel like I've been more aggressive throughout these weeks. I tried to be more aggressive. Obviously sometimes it didn't work, but I've been trying to take the initiative on the court, to be aggressive. I think my game at the net improved, as well.

Yeah, a lot of things that I can learn from, and I hope I will.

Q. You said today was one of the bad days. What is your process, especially maybe after a Grand Slam loss? What makes you get out of that space, feel better? Do you have something in particular that you go to that helps you to see the positives?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, the first thing I do is I just talk to Conchita. We talk about the match, about how I felt, what she thinks, what I think.

But then first thing I do is I try not to think about tennis and not do anything connected to tennis for a couple of days at least. Then with days it's just easier to kind of move on and forget. When you step on a practice court, you just know that, well, there's no point to think about the loss. You just step on a tennis court, and you try to practice and improve your game.

Q. You mentioned before your notebook with the quotes from legends of different sports. Do you have a section in there talking about quotes that help you go through losses?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Actually that's a good point. I don't have that. Maybe I should try and experiment with that, maybe see if it will help.

But no, I only had quotes to kind of motivate myself on court.

Q. There's been some talk of Russian players doing quite well. Do you think it's time to drop the whole not showing the nationality or move on from the war in Ukraine?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: When I play tennis, and I think all of us tennis players, when we play, we don't really think about what's going on. We just try to focus how to improve our game and how to win a match.

For me, I just try to think about tennis and just try to lead my life and enjoy my life overall.

Q. How do you feel like your relationship has changed with the British crowd? You've been put onto kind of the show courts in the last few matches. How would you describe your relationship and how it's changed from the start of the week where fans maybe didn't know who you are to now?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Yeah, obviously this gives me more confidence and also more positives, as well, because I started my first match playing on Court No. 3. In the beginning of the tournament I just told Conchita that I would really like to play on that court because that was the court when my first year playing here, I think I won against Potapova in the third round, and I advanced to the fourth round. So I had great memories from that court, you know, playing my first match on Court 3.

Then all of the rest of the matches I played Court 1 and Centre Court. That's a pretty good upgrade. I'm just happy that I got the chance to play on those big courts because I never played on them before.

I just hope maybe next year I'll have more matches playing on bigger courts.

Q. You hit many slice shots with your forehand. Specifically today's case, you hit for tactical reason or more you were forced to?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, sometimes I feel like maybe it's good to change the rhythm a little bit on the court. Sometimes I use it as a defense. Sometimes I just feel like on grass the ball stays low. With the slice, it's hard to kind of give good shape and put it uncomfortable for the opponent.

There are different reasons. Sometimes, yeah, I use it just to break the rhythm a little bit, but most of the times, if I feel like I want to use the shot, I just use it.

Q. When the sort of pain of today fades a little bit, what do you think your memories of this last two weeks will be?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, the atmosphere that I've experienced being here is great. I love playing in London. I feel like this slam is one of the most traditional slams with all the royalty coming, with white outfits. I don't know how many kilos of strawberries I've ate already.

I will remember a lot from this tournament, especially also making a poster supporting Conchita. Also, I will remember these tiebreaks.

I guess maybe the first thing that I'm going to practice is, I don't know, I'm going to play a thousand tiebreaks. Unless I win one, I'm not going to be happy. There are a lot of, yeah, great things to remember from this tournament.

Q. Because you improved so much your serve, your game, and also your touch and your volley. Whey, when one thing is not working in a certain moment, you get frustrated for a little bit too long time?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Yeah, well, I feel like when I'm on the court and obviously something that it's not working and doesn't go my way, of course, I get frustrated because I want everything to be perfect, obviously.

But we all know that perfect doesn't exist, especially on the tennis court. Before I used to struggle a lot with this, not kind of forgiving myself for, I don't know, making a mistake or just putting the wrong shot in the court and after lose a point.

Now I feel like it's getting better. I feel like it can maybe bother me for, I don't know, one, two points. But even now I feel like I know how to get through it and how to prepare myself to play again 100% for the next point.

Q. You just talked about practicing tiebreaks. What other lessons have you taken from this tournament in terms of advancing your game?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, I can say that I feel like when I'm trying to be more aggressive on the court, I feel like I'll win more points, obviously. I think, for example, today maybe sometimes I was a little bit too passive and didn't really use my opportunities and my chances.

Yeah, I'm just going to try to -- the next practice I have, from the beginning I'm going to try to focus on practicing on being aggressive, trying to step into the court when I play points, to maybe play even more volleys, to also get better at that, keep improving my serve, keep improving my returns.

There are plenty of things that Conchita has in mind. We are going to talk about it. We're going to share our thoughts, and we're going to go from there.

Q. You said you want to focus on tennis, but can you please clarify your position on Russia and Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: I can say that I'm for peace, and I just hope that whatever's going on will resolve soon.

Q. When you lose a match like this in two tiebreaks and the level is really high, does it make it easier or harder for you to move on from it?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, obviously if I would choose if I knew that I would lose and I would have a choice, lose like super easy 6-2, 6-2 or lose 7-6, 7-6 and have a couple of chance, I don't even know what I would choose.

I think that it's obviously better to lose like I lost today because it also shows my level. It also shows what I can improve. It also shows that sometimes there are also days when you don't play your 100%, but you try to also find your way and do something on court.

I think that obviously both ways, if you lose, you're going to be super sad and disappointed. For me, I would choose to lose like this. Of course, maybe some points I could have done better, but overall the match was not bad. I felt like the level was pretty high.

For me, it's better to lose in two tiebreaks like this.