INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

May 5, 2026

Mirra Andreeva

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Mirra, congratulations. An incredible run for you in Madrid, both singles and doubles. Your thoughts on your work there and how it prepared you for Rome.

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Of course, it was very good two weeks in Madrid, singles and doubles. I mean, two finals. I think a lot of positives to take from those two weeks.

Now Madrid is kind of in the past, so we have to forget about what happened there and try to put all of the focus that you have to try and perform well here in Rome.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It's been like a couple days. What is it like after your disappointment after the singles final, changing and focusing on a new tournament?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, as Rafa said, what happened in Madrid happened. So here we are in Rome.

I saw this video today in the morning, so I'm trying to kind of have that mindset on going into every next tournament after having not a great result. I mean, not the result that I wanted. I'm just going to try to stick to that mindset.

Q. We've heard from the players. They've expressed their disappointment with the prize money at Roland Garros, kind of other issues about the Grand Slams. Aryna said she would consider a boycott of those big events. Do you have a view on that?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, I wouldn't say that I have so much experience on talking about all of that. I do think obviously I'm just going to play tournaments and try to really put all my work and all my focus into winning the tournaments.

For now, my focus is not about prize money for the moment, so I'm just really trying to begin that experience and try to win as many matches as possible. That's what I'm focusing on right now.

Q. There's always a lot of attention on coaches on the pro tour. Do you have any memories of your first childhood coach, how important they were?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: My first what?

Q. Childhood coach.

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Childhood coach, yeah.

Q. The coaches who were important in making who you are now as a player.

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, I am still in touch with the very first coach that I was working with since I was six to eight or nine years old. She was also a woman. She basically kind of put the basics of the technique, how to play a little bit. She taught me how to basically play tennis.

I'm still in touch. Every time that I do well or just once in a while we text and we just ask how is life and what's been going on.

Yeah, I think that it's important to have that kind of maybe a little, but still a little bit of connection with the first coach that helped you understand the game.

Q. What's her name?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Her name is Marina, yeah.

Q. You played a lot of tennis over the last month, having won in Linz, semifinal in Stuttgart, if I'm not mistaken, then the final in Madrid. Are you finding it easier now you've turned 19, you're still very young, to cope with the succession of matches, the demands of the tour?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, I guess. But I don't know if it's even, like, the right mindset on looking at all of that.

I understand that these were very good couple of weeks on clay, three weeks consecutive I was playing a final, I won one tournament, I lost in the final. Overall I would say it's an amazing start to a clay season.

Obviously now I think that I'm not very happy with that 'cause obviously every tournament I play, I really want to go for it and I really want to win it. There are two sides of how I think about that.

I try to put myself on the more positive side and really think that those were great weeks on clay. Try to keep on going.

Q. What do you think about the singles draw?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, I have never played against Ruzic, so I saw a couple of points of how she played in Australia. I pretty much know how she plays. Obviously that's going to be, as well, up to Conchita on what she tells me to do. We're going to come up with a game plan together.

Rakhimova, I know Kamilla for a long time. We played against each other 2023 once.

No matter who wins, it's going to be a tough match anyway. I'm just going to try to prepare for any opponent that I'm going to face the best way that I can. Then obviously the outcome, I cannot predict that. I'm just going to try to focus on what I can do.

Q. In Roma you play doubles?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: We play doubles with Diana here, as well. I hope that we can also show a good result in doubles together.

Q. Is a special reality which you live with Diana outside the court and on the court compare to the other situation you have to live with the other opponents? When you are with Diana, you can be young, you can do things differently. When you are older, you have to be big. Can you explain which sort of difference this?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Of course, I mean, with Diana, we both become more childish and we really like to have fun. We always laugh and tell each other stories. Sometimes we just laugh so hard that we both cry after.

Obviously with her I feel like we both turn into little kids that just like to have fun. Sometimes with other people, as you said, you are more serious and you have to be a little bit more mature and have to be like a grownup.

I like that I can have a mix of those two personalities. I like that I have some people around that I can really have fun with and joke around and laugh, and some people I have to be serious as well.

I like that I have that mix of two personalities inside.

Q. You said you're going to come up with a game plan with Conchita. What is that like? How long does that take?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Well, usually it takes around maybe I would say 15 minutes. Not super long. She always asks me if I know how my opponent plays. But then when I say if I know how the opponent plays, I just tell my point of view, then she either puts more advices or she corrects me sometimes if I'm wrong. Then she shows me statistics. She has her notes as well that she's writing to show, then we both discuss how to play.

Q. Do you find there's a big difference when you're playing doubles early on in your career on a smaller court compared to the big show courts, just the dimensions, how much space you have to move? Does that make a difference?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: I will say when I first started kind of transferring to the bigger courts on the tournaments, I felt a little difference. I needed to at least warm up on the big court to feel the atmosphere, to feel the big tribunes, imagine maybe a lot of people are going to come. Obviously it's a different feeling.

For me in the beginning, I felt like I needed at least 15, 20 minutes to play on the court just to understand how it is.

But now, I mean, I've been playing doubles mostly. They mostly put them first on smaller courts. If I get a chance to play on a bigger court in singles, I kind of have both options.

With time, I just got used to playing on a smaller court, playing on a bigger court. Now I don't feel a lot of difference and it doesn't really bother me as much.

Q. Do you think you have more time on the bigger courts?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: It feels like the court is bigger because you have, as you said, so much space behind the baseline. The fans, you feel like the court is so big. Sometimes at first I remember I was just swinging so hard and the ball would go two meters out. I thought the court was bigger (smiling). After that, you just have to kind of adjust a little bit that the court is the same. You just have a little bit more space in the back.

Q. After two weeks in Madrid, you get used to the altitude, the ball flying, what is it like coming back down to earth in a way?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: Honestly we just had a talk with Conchita on how different it is. Obviously in Madrid I remember I was hitting the ball, the ball was flying with altitude, it was bouncing high. I loved it. I love playing in Madrid.

Here obviously the conditions are a little bit different. Especially today it was raining in the morning or during the night, I'm not sure, and the conditions were heavier, the ball was getting bigger. It's not flying as much, as well.

You have to be smart to adjust your game to these conditions a little bit, not keep on hitting as hard as you want, and the ball would fly as in Madrid. Here you have to really build the point a little bit different.