From Steffi Graf to Martina Hingis: Mirra Andreeva discloses legendary impact

Mirra Andreeva has gotten her 2025 season off to a flying start, storming into the Brisbane International semifinal without dropping a set. On Friday, she was a 7-6(2), 6-4 victor over Ons Jabeur.

The teenager, who has often spoken about her love for tennis not just as a player but a spectator as well, revealed a few more insights into her tennis interests during her on-court interview after the win.

On being asked about some of her favorite players, Andreeva went all the way back to the 1980s-90s to pick Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis as “legends” that enjoyed watching a lot. The youngster said she looked up to them and tried to inculcate parts of their game into her own.

“I watch all kind of tennis," Mirra Andreeva said. "I sometimes watch Martina Hingis and also Steffi Graf. They are legends.. so I just try to look up to them and see what they do on court to maybe take some stuff with me."

On the men’s side of things, Andreeva had an unusual pick in the former of Dustin Brown. Reiterating her love for tennis, the Russian said she watches the sport quite often and knows pretty much everyone associated with it. Deeming Brown an “entertaining” player to watch, Andreeva said:

"I also really like watching Dustin Brown when he used to play. He’s a very entertaining player. So I watch a lot of tennis. I know almost everyone,” she said.

The German-Jamaican former tennis player shot to fame after upsetting Rafael Nadal in the second round of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships. Dustin Brown was ranked 102 at that time.

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Mirra Andreeva will look to follow Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis' footsteps at the Australian Open

Mirra Andreeva at the 2024 Australian Open. (Source: Getty)

Mirra Andreeva will look to follow Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis’ footsteps and lift the trophy at the Australian Open, a tournament where she had her breakthrough run last year.

The Melbourne Slam is also very special for Graf and Hingis. It was here that the former began her historic Golden Calendar Slam in 1988. The latter, meanwhile, lifted her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 1997.

Andreeva, meanwhile, scored her first top-10 win over Ons Jabeur at the tournament last year. The 17-year-old went on to make the second week before losing to Barbora Krejikova.

She will look to improve on that performance further this year. At Brisbane, she will take on the winner of the last quarterfinal encounter between top seed Aryna Sabalenka and Marie Bouzkova.