Mirra Andreeva threw her racket during an on-court meltdown following her shock Wimbledon second round exit. The Russian was then left in tears during her post-match press conference at SW19.
The No. 5 seed had been among the favourites to go far at the Grand Slam. She’s had deep runs at Wimbledon before and came in off the back of winning her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open.
However, she was dealt a brutal draw, coming up against Barbora Krejcikova – a two-time Major champion who claimed the title at Wimbledon in 2024 – in the second round. Andreeva battled to the bitter end, saving six match points in a huge game at 5-3 in the decider when Krejcikova served for the match.
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But her valiant efforts proved insufficient, as the world No. 38 then broke to secure a 4-6 7-5 6-4 victory. Andreeva immediately chucked her racket to the side of the court in frustration after sending the ball long and handing Krejcikova the win, before quickly leaving the court.
She faced the media around half an hour later and burst into tears when asked how she would come to terms with the defeat.
“Well, I think of course I’m going to need a couple days,” she said before welling up. The 19-year-old was asked if she wanted to take a moment, but shook her head and continued.
“Sorry. Yeah, it’s going to take some time, maybe a couple of days, and then I’m going to be back to practice for hard courts. I don’t know what my next tournaments are going to be. I still need to talk to my team to see where I’m going to play next.”
View 2 ImagesAndreeva was in tears after losing in the second round of Wimbledon(Image: Clive Brunskill, Getty Images)
Andreeva also fell at the first hurdle in Bad Homburg last week, but didn’t want to blame the quick change from clay to grass following her French Open title run. “Well, yeah, it’s not easy. But, I mean, I’m not the only one that does that, so… I think more or less we’re in even conditions,” she continued.
The fifth seed also lamented her squandered chances, admitting she was unable to press home her advantage after winning the ninth game of the final set. Andreeva explained: “I felt as soon as I won that game I felt like I had a lot of great chances to make the score even with my serve.
“Yeah, I didn’t serve very well, didn’t win a lot of free points with my serve as I usually do. I felt like yes, it could have been a turning point. As you can see, it didn’t work and it wasn’t the turning point in the end.
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“I think she played well today. She’s a tricky opponent, especially to play against her on grass. She changes the rhythm a lot. The slices and dropshots, here they stay low, they don’t bounce. I’ve had some trouble with that, as well.
“A lot of mistakes today also. Yeah, she played well, but I felt like I could have also played better. That’s it.”