Andreeva’s Arrival — Week 2 quotes from BNP Paribas Open
By Joey Dillon
The IX: Tennis Tuesday with Joey Dillon, March 18, 2025
Howdy, y’all and Happy Tennis Tuesday! We’re halfway through the Sunshine Double and I admit I have to eat a little crow today. While I have been impressed with Mirra Andreeva, who still hasn’t turned 18 yet, I was worried she was getting a little too much hype. And boy, did she prove me all the way wrong.
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The Russian continued her rise up the rankings by capturing her second consecutive WTA 1000, but largest title of her career at the BNP Paribas Open. It’s one thing to win an event of this caliber period, but her road to lifting the trophy is beyond incredible:
Her win over Tauson was a rematch of their championship duel from Dubai, she destroyed a former champion in Rybakina and then had back-to-back wins over the Top 2 players. What stands out about Andreeva’s performance at Indian Wells is not just her impressive physicality on the court, but her mental fortitude. She never seemed rattled, no matter how intense the moment or how deep the match went. It’s a rare quality for a player so young, one that often defines champions and sets them apart from the pack. With every strike of the ball, it was clear that Andreeva wasn’t simply playing to win; she was playing to prove she belonged. I’d say mission accomplished.
I also want to highlight what really has been the secret weapon behind Andreeva’s rise — Conchita Martinez. The 1994 Wimbledon champion had her own glory as a player, but she’s previously produced Grand Slam wins with Garbine Murguruza. Martínez’s own playing style was characterized by a tactical, patient game that relied heavily on consistency and court coverage — qualities that mirror the way Andreeva plays. Martínez knows what it takes to navigate the pressures of a tour full of strong competitors, and I think offering those insights are a massive intangible that make women coaches so strong on tour.
As a result of her win, she sits at No. 6 in the overall rankings, but rises to No. 3 in the Race to the WTA Finals. What’s even scarier is that she didn’t play Miami last year so is only going to gain points and she only has about 1,000 points to defend through Roland Garros, so she’s going to be a mainstay in the Top 10.
In doubles, Asia Muhammad and Demi Schuurs took home their first title as a duo and leap into the Top 5 in the Doubles Race.
We now move onto the Miami Open, where there are plenty of questions including whether or not Andreeva can continue her high from Indian Wells, how can Aryna Sabalenka recover from another tough desert loss and where do Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys go following their semifinal losses. While I won’t delve too deep into predictions, here are a few first and second rounders to try and tune in for:
Before we go to links, let me just remind you of the glory days of Key Biscayne and how I pray the tournament finds their way to their rightful home:
Cheers!
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This Week in Women’s Tennis
Indian Wells had plenty of WTA alumni events, but perhaps even more cool was the unveiling of rare recordings of Gladys Heldman and the Original 9 discussing creating the tour.
Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova connected about a year ago when Storm Hunter tore her Achilles and Siniakova needed a partner. Now, they’re perhaps the team to beat.
I know the Miami Open is a blatant ad for IMG Tennis, but they could throw a local bone or two:
ICYMI, Gilette has added their name to the WTA’s portfolio and becoming the “Official Razor” of the tour and WTA Finals.
Gigi Fernandez was a guest on the Second Serve podcast to discuss her recent philanthropic work, as well as her career that started on the small island of Puerto Rico and took her to the Tennis Hall of Fame.
Alize Cornet joining the French version of The Traitors is the type of mess I will absolutely endorse.
This was quite the ad I was not expecting:
Continue to keep an eye out for how tournament winnings will impact D1 college tennis with the rise of NIL.
I had a chuckle with Michael Kosta meeting up his “Lucky Loser” match in Eva Lys.
Our condolences go out to the family of John Feinstein, a writer who helped bring tennis to a more mainstream audience through his book Hard Courts, who passed away last week.
Tweet of the Week
Vika, she’s just like us
Five at The IX: Indian Wells Week 2
Q. You’re still 17. Traveling the world. You have a great team. Now you’re winning these extraordinary tournaments. What’s the best part of being Mirra? What’s the most fun?
MIRRA ANDREEVA: Oh, okay. I don’t know. I mean, it’s nice to be me, I guess, maybe [smiling]. But I don’t know what to answer. I never really thought about it.
I mean, for me it’s nice to travel around the world with the people that I care about, with my team, to play all these great tournaments and to have fun on the court, just to enjoy my life.
So I think that’s what I like about being me. I will try to keep doing the same for as long as I can.
Q. You made an interesting comment on court about Mirra and her team, the age that she is.
ARYNA SABALENKA: Yes.
Q. Do you think that really is a big factor?
ARYNA SABALENKA: Oh, yeah, of course. 100%.
I’d say that, for example talking about me in that age, I was surrounded by so many wrong people. Finally when I was able to get rid of those people and, how to say, I surrounded myself with the right people, you kind of like you have more confidence and everything is more calm and the atmosphere in the team is very healthy.
So team is very important. I can see she has her family who is helping her with, I’m sure, with a lot of decisions. She has Conchita, which is really experienced person and very nice person. She doesn’t have the abusive things.
Yeah, definitely she got the right team much earlier, and that’s why she’s so successful right now. So it’s nice to see that there is players who is able to surround — maybe it’s not about her, it’s more about maybe her family, because she’s still too young, and maybe it’s kind of like team decision, family decision. So it’s nice to see, and I’m happy for her.
Yeah, I wish I will have my team, my current team in that age. Probably would be much bigger by now.
Q. Asia, what did it mean for you to break the top 10?
ASIA MUHAMMAD: It was emotional. Last year I decided to stop playing singles and just give it my all in doubles. Obviously you want to see some kind of proof on paper that, you know, you made the right decision.
So it was really nice when that happened, because I felt good about my decision to stop playing tennis and just focus on doubles.
Yeah, I want to keep moving up in the rankings, but it made me really happy.
Q. Just staying on that topic, you mentioned the stress. This is about as stressful time as there has been in a while. I mean, it’s always stressful, I don’t mean to suggest that, but with the changes going on. So what is it that you do to click your mind off, or maybe you’re not able to click your mind off, or maybe you’re still thinking about this when you’re on the court, how does it work that you’re able to play such incredible tennis with all this still going on? What’s the routine?
ELINA SVITOLINA: Well, I mean, we’re all humans. We get used to the situations. It’s been over three years now the war is ongoing. I feel like right now, you know, I try to really split the time where I’m looking at the news or I’m checking, checking the news still every day, couple times a day, especially right now where there is a lot of news coming.
Yeah, there is time for that and there is time also for tennis. There is time for training and recovery and just completely switch off from everything. Also time with my family. You know, I have my daughter here. You know, Gael is here also. So, you know, it’s nice to sometimes switch off completely from what’s going on.
But it’s just these moments, it’s few hours that I try to get. I feel more refreshed and I feel like, you know, just good energy when I need to perform, because I feel like I need to play well. I feel like it’s something that I try to do for my country.
You know, to see my flag, you know, raising and, you know, to see the tick with the wind from my country.
Q. What’s been the hardest thing about making this comeback? You said you have come back six or seven times from various injuries, things like that. What’s the hardest thing about this one and what has maybe been easier than you expected?
BELINDA BENCIC: Well, the hardest thing by far, the physical thing, I mean, obviously the first times you try to practice, you’re like, oh, my God. Yeah, just crazy, of course, after having a very sporty body and then just a huge belly and trying to come back and, like, all your muscle mass is gone and everything. So you really just start from zero. The first months were just hard. Obviously not easy.
Yeah, it was just painful, you know, when you’re trying to work your cardio and everything up. So practices are not fun. But you feel improvement every day, which keeps you going and which keeps you motivated.
Then what’s been easier is, for sure, probably like enjoying it more, separating kind of work with private life and just leaving bad days at the office kind of in the office (smiling).
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
