Paris, June 5: Mirra Andreeva could not hold her nerve at Roland Garros last year.
Facing the unheralded Lois Boisson for a spot in the French Open semifinals, the Russian teenager lost her temper, losing in straight sets after receiving a warning for angrily hitting a ball into the stands.
There has been no such meltdown over the past two weeks. Still only 19, Andreeva is in her first Grand Slam final. The pressure remains but she knows how to handle it.“Now I’m also nervous when I play matches like this or when I’m up in the score and … I’m serving and the opponent breaks me,” she said after stopping the best clay-court player of the season, Marta Kostuyk, in the semifinals.“Before I was thinking Oh, my God, if I lost my serve, it’s like the end of the world.’ But now I feel like … if she broke me, well, so what? I will try to break her back.” The approach has been working out fine.
The eighth-seeded Andreeva has dropped just one set en route to the final, where she will meet the 114th-ranked Maja Chwalinska, a qualifier.It’s Chwalinska’s first appearance in a major final, meaning a new Grand Slam champion will be crowned at the Court Philippe-Chatrier on Saturday.Andreeva has been competing at the highest level since she was 15 and it has taken some time for her to manage her temper, emotions and the pressure that accompanies her massive ambition. Finally, it appears she is ready to step forward and stake her claim for the biggest titles. (AP)
