Andy Roddick makes feelings known on Aryna Sabalenka's behavior towards Mirra Andreeva after losing Indian Wells final

Andy Roddick recently gave his thoughts on Aryna Sabalenka's behavior towards Mirra Andreeva after being defeated by her in the final of the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. This championship match marked the sixth encounter between Sabalenka and Andreeva, resulting in the World No. 1's second loss to the Russian.

Sabalenka was the top seed at the WTA 1000 hard court tournament in California, and she began her campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. She triumphed over players such as McCartney Kessler, Lucia Bronzetti, Sonay Kartal, Liudmila Samsonova and Madison Keys to secure her spot in the tournament final.

In the title match, Aryna Sabalenka faced Mirra Andreeva and was defeated 6-2, 4-6, 3-6. Despite the loss, Sabalenka displayed grace and sportsmanship towards her opponent during the trophy presentation.

During a recent episode of the "Served with Andy Roddick" podcast, Roddick commended Sabalenka for her conduct towards Andreeva, even in defeat. He appreciated the World No. 1's ability to control her emotions, especially considering her known tendency to express her emotions strongly, such as smashing rackets.

"I thought that was actually a great moment and the camera angle was, [Aryna] Sabalenka was right behind [Mirra] Andreeva on the post game and I also think it's a really good look for Sabalenka. She can go crazy, she can throw a racket, she can be very intense and then it seems like obviously she's upset but it's almost like she gets the moment," Roddick said. [11:31 onwards]

Andy Roddick reflected on his own career, noting that he remembers players based on their behavior on and off the court. He predicted that Mirra Andreeva would also look back fondly on Aryna Sabalenka's sportsmanship in the later stages of her career.

"I can remember the players that were really nice to me when I was like 17 or 18 years old . Like I remember Jonas Bjorkman was beyond nice and [Tim] Henman was super nice and then I remember the players that were kind of di*ks like I remember [Yevgeny] Kafelnikov was kind of one. There were the guys who were really salty... But good for Sabalenka, I thought it was a good look and it's a nice moment," he added. [11:55 onwards]

On her way to securing the title at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Mirra Andreeva defeated the likes of Varvara Gracheva, Clara Tauson, Elena Rybakina, Elina Svitolina, Iga Swiatek and ultimately Aryna Sabalenka.

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Aryna Sabalenka & Mirra Andreeva will next compete at Miami Open 2025

Aryna Sabalenka & Mirra Andreeva at Indian Wells [Image Source: Getty Images]

Aryna Sabalenka and Mirra Andreeva will next compete at the 2025 Miami Open. The tournament will run from March 18 to 30, 2025, at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Sabalenka is the top seed at the WTA 1000 hard court event in Florida and she will begin her campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. She will face Viktoriya Tomova in her opening match.

Aryna Sabalenka and Tomova have faced each other only once on the WTA Tour, in the round of 16 of the 2016 Europe Tennis Center Ladies Open which the Bulgarian won 7-6(4), 6-4. The former then went on to finish as the runner-up in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Mirra Andreeva is seeded 11th and will be making her tournament debut at the Miami Open. Like Sabalenka, she will also start her campaign in the second round after receiving a first round-bye. Andreeva will go up against either Veronika Kudermetova or Wang Xinyu in her opening match.