Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tim Henman described it as “difficult to watch” as Mirra Andreeva was reduced to tears during her post-match press conference. Andreeva, 19, claimed her first Grand Slam title at the French Open earlier this year but was unable to replicate that form with a lengthy run at SW19.
The fifth seed got past Magda Linette in her opening round match on Monday, but fell short in a gruelling Centre Court encounter with 2024 champion Barbora Krejcikova, going down 6-4, 5-7, 4-6.
“It’s so tough to see that, the emotion after such a difficult defeat on Centre Court,” former World No. 4 Henman told presenter Clare Balding during the BBC’s live coverage.
“You can see how much it means to her… Roland Garros was just incredible. She’s an amazing talent. We’ve been, hoping, expecting her to come through with a Grand Slam victory. She was able to achieve that and then three weeks later it’s that bitter disappointment.”
Henman then turned his attention to the Championship’s media obligations, which require players to face the press even following crushing defeats such as this. “It’s so difficult to see when she’s so young, in front of the cameras,” he added.
“On the one hand I think it’s a great strength of our sport that we have a commitment to speak to the media. If you are requested after the match then you do your press conference and I think that is a great strength.
View 2 ImagesMirra Andreeva was reduced to tears in her press conference(Image: BBC)
“However when you see something like that it’s very difficult to watch and you wonder whether perhaps she could have taken a little bit more time to gather her emotions. Because no one wants to see a young player crying in front of the media.”
Andreeva was clearly frustrated throughout her match, at one point hurling her racket in anger. She said she would need time to come to terms with the defeat before breaking down in tears, ultimately carrying on despite being offered a moment to collect herself.
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“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,” she said. “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.”
Following her victory over Andreeva, Krejcikova will take on Nikola Bartunkova in the third round. This already represents a career-best Wimbledon performance for 20-year-old Bartunkova, who dispatched 32nd seed Katerina Siniakova in straight sets on Wednesday.
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