Mirra Andreeva eager for Cincinnati challenge after rollercoaster Olympic debut

CINCINNATI—Mirra Andreeva withstood an up and down Olympic debut to find herself drawn to rollercoasters of a different kind in her first trip to the Cincinnati Open.

“It’s not like I love them,” Andreeva told me after storming through her opener against No. 11 Emma Navarro on Wednesday, “but sometimes I’m in the mood to scream my lungs out, and on roller coasters you can scream the hell out of yourself. Sometimes I can find them scary but other times I’m in that mood to scream and enjoy.”

The Lindner Family Tennis Center is across the street from the Kings Island amusement park, making for a uniquely American backdrop as players prepare for the US Open in New York. Perhaps the prominent Eiffel Tower ride caught Andreeva’s eye; after all, Paris is where the teenager enjoyed two of her biggest successes in 2024.

“I love to play on those courts,” the 17-year-old said of Roland Garros, the site not only of her first Grand Slam singles semifinal, but also where she paired Diana Shnaider to win an Olympic silver medal in women’s doubles.

“I didn’t have a choice! I had to win at least one match there,” joked Andreeva, who endured opening-round exits in both women’s singles and mixed doubles with Daniil Medvedev. “With this mindset, I went on the court, and Diana helped me win a match at the Olympics. That’s how we got it done.”

Andreeva returned to Paris fresh off a maiden WTA title at the UniCredit Iasi Open but stumbled in her first two matches despite encouragement from countryman Medvedev, a former world No. 1.

I didn’t have a choice! I had to win at least one match there. Mirra Andreeva on her Olympic silver medal in women's doubles

“It was an amazing experience for me,” she recalled. “I didn’t have high expectations but I felt like we could play good.

“He tried to calm me down before the match, telling me, ‘If we lose, we lost together. If we win, we win together. Don’t worry, I’ll always support you.’ I told him, ‘Well, you don’t have a choice!’”

Though they were famously outfoxed by Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, Andreeva finally found her footing with the surging Shnaider, stunning No. 2 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova en route to the Gold Medal match.

“I wasn’t nervous; I was enjoying the atmosphere because I love to play doubles, especially mixed doubles because I feel like it can open up new opportunities and levels to your game.”

Andreeva displayed that level with aplomb against Navarro, hitting three times as many winners as her higher-ranked opponent (16 to 5) to win her first match on Cincy soil in 65 minutes flat.

“It’s a bit tricky to come from clay to hard courts, especially when you had a great tournament before,” she said. “Honestly, I didn’t even really have time to celebrate the medals. Right away, we went home and I started to practice again, so it was all a bit of a rush.

“When I arrived here a few days before the tournament, I played so bad! I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is not going to be good!’ But thank God, we arrived four or five days before, so I had time to adjust a little bit, play more on the courts. Day by day, it got better. That’s how I managed to play not bad today!”

Not bad at all. Though Andreeva didn’t get her wish to play next opponent Karolina Pliskova on Center Court—settling for the small but charming Court 10—the world No. 24 is hoping for a long week in the Queen City, with enough time to sample the Graeter’s ice cream and spend at least one afternoon on Kings Island. 🎢

“I tried to speak to my coach about it but she said, ‘No, go without me because I will not go with you!’ I’ll try to force her, at least for one roller coaster!”