The entire tennis world is paying attention to Russian prodigy Mila Andreeva.
The 16-year-old just played in the main draw of the Australian Open for the first time and put on a great show, making it all the way to the fourth round and making a huge comeback.
Even Andreeva was surprised by the 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 victory. In the third set against Diane Parry (France), he said, “I never expected to come back.''
It was so intense that he became irritated and pulled his arm toward his face, leaving a big bite mark on a backhand error early in the third set.
The next moment, I saw her throw her racket to the ground.
Andreeva revealed in the post-match press conference that she had “spoken poorly to myself” during the match, but believes it was that harshness that led her to victory.
British tennis legend Andy Murray defended the young star on Twitter when a commentator said she was being too hard on herself and that she “really needs to work on the mental side of the game”.
“Maybe it's because of her mental strength that she turned the game around.” Murray wrote.
“Maybe she turns the game around because she's tough on herself and demands more from herself when she's losing or playing bad? Winner.”
The teen couldn't have been happier to learn that Murray was watching her games, let alone posting positive things about her.
“Honestly, I'll try and print it out somehow,” she told reporters. “I don't know, but I'm going to put it in a frame. I'll take it everywhere. Maybe I'll put it on the wall so I can see it every day.”
Andreeva dropped the first set 6-1, but rallied in the second set to secure a quick double break and set it 6-1.
Parry led 5-1 in the deciding set and the match seemed to be slipping away from her, but Andreeva wasn't done yet.
When Parry was serving for the match at 5-4, she fought back to secure a break and held her own serve to tie the score at 5-5.
Parry was clearly angry with himself when he dropped another game, giving Andreeva a chance to serve for the match at 6-5.
But surprisingly, Parry broke back and the match went to a decisive 10-point tiebreak.
From then on, Parry made more unforced errors, giving Andreeva a 10-5 tiebreaker and a spot in the round of 16.
“I don't know at 5-1, but we just tried to win at least one more game so we don't go 6-1, 1-6, 6-1,” Andreeva said.
“Then, 5-2, she has match point. She goes to the net. I'm thinking, 'Am I crazy?' At match point, head to the net. But then she missed the ball. ”
She said she runs on “adrenaline, desire and emotion” to win.
Andreeva made her Grand Slam main draw debut at last year's French Open, reaching the third round, then the fourth round at Wimbledon and the second round at the US Open.
At just 16 years old, she's been touted as the “next big thing,” but the humble teenager doesn't think what she's doing is that big of a deal.
“So, the fourth round, yes, I'm 16 years old, maybe a little new. Honestly, I don't think I did anything amazing. I'm just trying to win the match. I’m just trying to fight,” she said Friday.
“The fourth round is nothing. Even if I probably won the Slam, I still have to win three more matches, and winning seven in a row is really tough. I don't think I did anything great, but time is running out. So I want to do that.”
Andreeva will face ninth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round.
