tennis

Mirra Andreeva explains what’s changed in her game after beating Iga Swiatek again

Yahoo Sports

Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Mirra Andreeva continued her impressive run at the Stuttgart Open, coming from behind to defeat Iga Swiatek in three sets and advance to the semifinals. Swiatek’s first tournament with new coach Francisco Roig came to an end against Andreeva, who fought back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. This was Andreeva’s third straight win over Swiatek, and she now leads their head-to-head series 3-1 on the WTA Tour.

Her next opponent is world number two Elena Rybakina, a player she hasn’t faced in more than a year. After the win over Swiatek, Andreeva spoke about how she has started to view her approach differently in recent matches. Photo by Shi Tang/Getty Images Mirra Andreeva speaks after Stuttgart comeback over Iga Swiatek Andreeva’s win over Swiatek was her second comeback of the tournament, having also rallied from a set down in her opening match against Jelena Ostapenko.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Andreeva said: “Lately, I just caught the feeling of how much I enjoy playing, basically. I don’t know. I just like to feel the ball on my racquet.

“I like to get that adrenaline, I like to feel nervous a little bit, I like to get tired. I would never say that, but here it is (smiling). “Yeah, I guess I just caught the moment where I just want to play and see what’s gonna happen on the court.

“Obviously, sometimes when things are not working out my way, I can get a little emotional, I can get a little mad, but I think that I learned that the calmer I stay on the court, the better the result is. “Not maybe the result, but the better I play on the court, because I feel like I still cannot control the outcome of the match. I can only control how I play and what I do on the court.