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A yr older, a yr wiser?
It seems to be the case with 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva. The Russian returns to the BNP Paribas Open as defending champion this yr, and that will usually be a cue for a teen like herself to emphasize out.
Not Andreeva. It could possibly be her new companion, the labradoodle named “Ressy” that she’s now touring with, or it could possibly be, nicely, that she’s simply clever past her years.
Regardless of the purpose, Andreeva says that she’s not going to let the stress of defending 1,000 factors this week hassle her. She’s simply been via the identical course of a number of weeks in the past in Dubai, the place she reached the quarterfinals.
She fortunately discovered that it wasn’t the tip of the world.
“Actually I assumed that I’d take into consideration that rather a lot,” she stated throughout her media day press convention on Wednesday within the California desert. “I used to be fearful about defending factors in Dubai since Roland-Garros. So, you already know, I used to be fascinated with that rather a lot, however then really after I got here to Dubai, the one factor I felt is the thrill of being there once more, of feeling new feelings like being on the event as a defending champion.”
Andreeva, seeded eighth, will face both Solana Sierra or Peyton Stearns within the second spherical.
If the seeds maintain, she’s slated to face two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Swiatek within the quarterfinals.
Within the meantime, she had an enormous smile on her face as she made the media rounds on Wednesday. She shared a lunch with Jack Draper at an occasion referred to as the Champions Luncheon, then strolled by the event social media set. The smile by no means left her face.
Whether or not she will preserve smiling all the best way to subsequent Sunday—and within the course of grow to be the primary individual to efficiently defend the Indian Wells title since Martina Navratilova in 1991—is one other story.
Whether or not she likes it or not, there’s a goal on her again.
An issue for an additional day.
“It was all new to me, however I didn’t really feel the strain for some purpose as I assumed I’d,” Andreeva reiterated. “And right here it’s the identical factor. I’m simply so excited to be right here as a defending champion, see my images nearly all over the place in each nook. It’s simply good to be right here once more, and now I don’t really feel any strain on defending factors.”
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