Speaker 1: Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Sitdown.
Speaker 1: I'm Matt Trolo, a writer for oz open dot com, and.
Speaker 2: I'm Viv Christie, managing editor of Australian tennis magazine.
Speaker 1: Good to see.
Speaker 3: Viv.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us why we're sitting down with Mira
Speaker 1: Andreva this week?
Speaker 2: Well, I was lucky enough to sit down with Mira
Speaker 2: at Wimbledon when I was there a few weeks ago.
Speaker 2: And yeah, Mira is a great personality, as we know
Speaker 2: on the women's tour. You know, she brings a lot
Speaker 2: of fighting spirit, big stage personality to all of her matches.
Speaker 2: And yeah, she's just really one for us to keep
Speaker 2: an eye on.
Speaker 1: Good timing this week because she's just won an Olympic
Speaker 1: silver medal with Diana Schnader in the women's doubles in Paris,
Speaker 1: and also that was hot off the heels of her
Speaker 1: first wto title.
Speaker 2: Mira, thank you for your time today. It's great to
Speaker 2: have you as a guest on the sit Down. I
Speaker 2: wonder if you could start by sharing with our listeners
Speaker 2: how you had your start in tennis.
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3: I started playing tennis when I was six years old,
Speaker 3: but I spent like three years before in the tennis
Speaker 3: court because my older sister she started playing as well.
Speaker 3: She was she started when she was around five, and
Speaker 3: so yeah, since I'm three years old, I've been spending
Speaker 3: some time on a tennis court. But I wish I
Speaker 3: would have started earlier. But I remember that I couldn't
Speaker 3: hold a racket in my hand. It was too heavy
Speaker 3: and it would just keep falling down. So yeah, I
Speaker 3: started when I was six. I started in Siberia, in Krasnoyarsk,
Speaker 3: is the city where we come from, and yeah, that's
Speaker 3: basically it. After we moved to south of Russia the
Speaker 3: city named Sochi, and since then we lived there for
Speaker 3: five six years and after now we live in Khan
Speaker 3: for I don't know, almost three years now.
Speaker 2: Already you started with when you was six, as you say,
Speaker 2: and now you're seventeen, so that's barely ten years. And
Speaker 2: in that time you've had wins over top ten opponents,
Speaker 2: including your idol on Jibba, and reach the semifinals at Rollandaros.
Speaker 2: Does it ever feel like a bit of a dream?
Speaker 3: At first, it did, and it still feels like a dream,
Speaker 3: of course, because I've been watching these tournaments when I
Speaker 3: was a kid on a TV having my breakfast before
Speaker 3: I would go to school. So of course it feels
Speaker 3: like a dream to me to be here and play
Speaker 3: all these tournaments. But now I already get used to
Speaker 3: this a little bit. I start to feel the atmosphere more,
Speaker 3: and I start to kind of feel like I start
Speaker 3: to belong here. It's not like I'm new anymore and
Speaker 3: like new surprise or something. And yeah, that felt like
Speaker 3: a dream. But now I get used to this a
Speaker 3: little bit more, and it just feels like my life.
Speaker 2: Now you're joining us at when Wooden, where you reached
Speaker 2: the fourth round last year as a qualifier. How have
Speaker 2: you changed as both a player and as a person
Speaker 2: since then.
Speaker 3: Let's say as a player, I changed. I think I
Speaker 3: became more aggressive and I know what I want on court.
Speaker 3: It's not like I just go there and play and
Speaker 3: try to enjoy and just win as many games as
Speaker 3: I can. Just now I go and I know what
Speaker 3: I want and I know what I also need if
Speaker 3: I can say need. So yeah, I think that as
Speaker 3: a player I became more kind of a straightforward and
Speaker 3: I feel like this not helps me, but this is
Speaker 3: a bit of next level for me, a bit of
Speaker 3: an upgrade, yea. And as a person, yeah, a bit
Speaker 3: more mature, as I said once and just and that's it. Actually,
Speaker 3: I'm still the same as I was last year, just
Speaker 3: maybe a bit more, yeah, mature, and I don't say
Speaker 3: some crazy stuff anymore, but still the same old mirror in.
Speaker 2: Your upgrade as a player as you call it. You
Speaker 2: reached the semi finals of Roland Garross. You had wins
Speaker 2: there over Victoria Azarenka and Arena Sablenka. How do you
Speaker 2: look back on that experience.
Speaker 3: Of course, looking back to that, it feels amazing, especially
Speaker 3: if we start with the second round match against Azarenka.
Speaker 4: A little thriller there.
Speaker 3: I knew, I mean, Grand Slam champion, she has won
Speaker 3: a lot of tournaments, she has a lot of experience,
Speaker 3: and I just went on court and I was like, well, Mirror,
Speaker 3: you gotta do your best to to beat her. And
Speaker 3: I felt like I did more than my best and
Speaker 3: it was an amazing match. We finished at one am.
Speaker 3: It was the latest finish of my career, and looking
Speaker 3: back to that, I'm really really really happy about that,
Speaker 3: and that much I think I'm gonna remember it for
Speaker 3: a very very long time, and of course much against
Speaker 3: Saballenka was also.
Speaker 4: Kind of a thriller for me.
Speaker 3: But unfortunately I didn't really have time to enjoy the
Speaker 3: moment when I was in Paris because we finished pretty late,
Speaker 3: and then next day I had a semi final to play,
Speaker 3: so I didn't really have time to enjoy the moment there.
Speaker 3: But after I took some time to just realize and
Speaker 3: understand what happened. But yet now it doesn't seem to
Speaker 3: me like a surprise. I mean, of course it was
Speaker 3: a tough match. She had some I don't know, trouble
Speaker 3: with something, probably her stomach, and it was hard for
Speaker 3: me to play because she called the physio a few
Speaker 3: times and it's always hard to keep your focus on
Speaker 3: a game. So yeah, I'm just happy about that win,
Speaker 3: and uh yeah, happy about everything that I did during
Speaker 3: French Open.
Speaker 2: And you're a very artistic and creative player. You're known
Speaker 2: for being very intelligent on court. That draws a lot
Speaker 2: of comparisons with Martina Hingis. How do you feel when
Speaker 2: you're compared to Martina Hingers?
Speaker 3: Well, I like that it's not a bad comparison, not
Speaker 3: a bad compaiment comparison.
Speaker 4: In comparison. Yes, okay, so yeah, I like that.
Speaker 3: I like that people see a bit of a same
Speaker 3: kind of game between us, because I when I was younger,
Speaker 3: I wanted to play like her because I felt like
Speaker 3: we have a pretty much same a game style. But
Speaker 3: she was kind of more aggressive and me me, I
Speaker 3: would like play the point and build the point until
Speaker 3: the last moment on the baseline until the girl is
Speaker 3: dead there running and me I would just finish the point.
Speaker 3: And her, I feel like she she goes for it
Speaker 3: and she tries to finish the ball at the net,
Speaker 3: and she's more aggressive. But yeah, it's it's really nice
Speaker 3: that people compare us and they say some stuff they
Speaker 3: see the same game style, and yeah that I like that.
Speaker 3: It's not bad, you know, if people compare it to
Speaker 3: a Grand Slam champion.
Speaker 4: So yeah, it's it's nice to hear.
Speaker 2: It's thirty years since your coach Conchitta man one Wood,
Speaker 2: and what has she told you about that time? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Well, uh, first, of course, she's she's having a bit
Speaker 3: of a flashbacks this trip, and yeah, we've talked a
Speaker 3: little bit about that, and I watched the final with her,
Speaker 3: she said, so I put on the video from YouTube
Speaker 3: her final against Nevartilova, and she's like, no, no, don't
Speaker 3: watch this, this moment start from this score in the
Speaker 3: second set. I was like, uh, huh, okay, And of
Speaker 3: course I put the moment that she didn't want on purpose.
Speaker 3: But yeah, she of course tells me about the way
Speaker 3: she played, but I feel like she doesn't really like
Speaker 3: to talk about it because maybe she doesn't want to
Speaker 3: feel old confer to me. I don't know, but yeah,
Speaker 3: sometimes I just ask her how did it feel like?
Speaker 4: And what did you do there? And what did you
Speaker 4: do then?
Speaker 3: And yeah, she shares some experience and emotions with me,
Speaker 3: and it's really really nice to hear what she was
Speaker 3: going through that time. And yeah, she's gonna play Legends
Speaker 3: Mixed doubles, and she said, don't you ever come to
Speaker 3: my match. I was like, why, but I want to
Speaker 3: support you. She's like, no, I don't want to see
Speaker 3: you there. And so it'll be on a second week.
Speaker 3: I hope I'm still gonna be here, and I have
Speaker 3: a plan. I'm gonna prepare a piece of paper, a
Speaker 3: huge piece of paper. I will write con Chita Martinez,
Speaker 3: let's go, and I will go to her match and
Speaker 3: I will waive this piece of paper that's like that
Speaker 3: she can see me and I will be her number
Speaker 3: one fan. So yeah, that will be nice if we're
Speaker 3: still gonna be here.
Speaker 2: That speaks a lot about the strength of your relationship. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you've reached the second week of the Istra and open
Speaker 2: when and Roland garross every Grand Slam surface, which one
Speaker 2: do you must love to play on?
Speaker 3: Well, that's actually a really hard question. Before I would
Speaker 3: say clay right away, but now I when I play
Speaker 3: on hardcourt, I miss clay court so much. But when
Speaker 3: I play on clay court, I want to go back
Speaker 3: on hardcourt because yeah, just like the sound when somebody
Speaker 3: plays on hard court. But when I play on on
Speaker 3: heart or on clay, I want to go on grass
Speaker 3: because I really like the sound when the people play
Speaker 3: and when they move on court. It's so soft and
Speaker 3: it actually depends But yeah, I don't even have a
Speaker 3: favorite service actually, because it also depends on on a
Speaker 3: time and on how I feel. So yeah, it's a
Speaker 3: really complicated question for me, but I would say that
Speaker 3: I love them all.
Speaker 2: Are you still studying and do you still hide chemistry?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, I still study, but now luckily we have
Speaker 3: summer holidays at school. Yeah, and I still don't really
Speaker 3: like chemistry because well that's really hard for me to
Speaker 3: understand and I don't really have time to really go
Speaker 3: into it. But yeah, probably when after I don't know,
Speaker 3: maybe when I finished career, I will be like forty
Speaker 3: forty three. Maybe then I will have a wish and
Speaker 3: desire to go and study chemistry, but I don't think so.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I'm still studying and luckily I don't have
Speaker 3: to do anything now anymore.
Speaker 2: When we talked earlier in the year at Brisbane and
Speaker 2: you were reading Gone with the Wind at the time, I'm.
Speaker 3: Reading second part, Yes, don't tell me what's going to happen.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I enjoy reading sometimes. It really helps me
Speaker 3: to put some nervous moments aside and to focus. And
Speaker 3: I when I read, I have I think I have
Speaker 3: a pretty good imagination, So when I read, I have
Speaker 3: like pictures and everything in my head, and I imagine
Speaker 3: that I'm there and I'm reading and just looking at
Speaker 3: them kind of like I'm with them. So yes, I
Speaker 3: sometimes I really like to read. And this is a
Speaker 3: very very good book and I really like it, So yes,
Speaker 3: hopefully I can finish it soon.
Speaker 2: You've achieved such a lot in such a short amount
Speaker 2: of time. What's what's your tennis dream?
Speaker 3: Well, of course, I think if you ask every tennis player,
Speaker 3: they will say that their tennis dream probably to be
Speaker 3: number one and to win ALAM or to win Olympics.
Speaker 3: But me, I would say that after I finished my career,
Speaker 3: I just want to be remembered for a very very
Speaker 3: long time, and I want to be remembered as a
Speaker 3: champion and as a player who never never give up,
Speaker 3: as a player who people look up to. And I
Speaker 3: would say that this is one of my dreams that
Speaker 3: I really want to accomplish and I really want them
Speaker 3: to happen.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that would be awesome.
Speaker 2: Well, it was such a pleasure to catch up with
Speaker 2: Mira at Wimwood, and she is such a wise head
Speaker 2: on young shoulders. It's hard to believe that she only
Speaker 2: turns seventeen in April, and you know, we see that
Speaker 2: in her tennis and in her results. But at the
Speaker 2: same time, it's really refreshing that she's such a you know,
Speaker 2: still a teenager who you know, studies, enjoys life, reads
Speaker 2: in her spare time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, it was really cool to hear how
Speaker 1: excited she was or grateful to have the time with you,
Speaker 1: how she thanked you at the beginning of the interview,
Speaker 1: and then she just does have like a unique perspective.
Speaker 1: It's that kind of curious, wide eyed, but also, as
Speaker 1: you said, mature for someone who's seventeen. It's just her
Speaker 1: answers are quite unique in tennis media. When I listen
Speaker 1: to her speak, there's something really refreshing about them, So
Speaker 1: I enjoyed that a lot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a lot of fun to do that,
Speaker 2: and she also has a real gratitude as well, so
Speaker 2: it's really lovely to see.
Speaker 1: And on that note, you can join us again next
Speaker 1: week for another episode of the sit Down on Monday,
Speaker 1: but if you'd like to hear more from me, I'll
Speaker 1: actually be back on Thursday, hosting in place of John
Speaker 1: for aoshow weekly.
Speaker 2: Details for how to contact us are in the show notes,
Speaker 2: and please remember to subscribe, rate, and review. See you
Speaker 2: next week, Matt
Speaker 1: See you then view