Mirra Andreeva has been stunningly compared to the 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer by Serena Williams’ former coach, Rennae Stubbs.
17-year-old Andreeva won last week’s 2025 Dubai Championships, a WTA 1000 tournament. She is the youngest player to win an event of that level since the format was first introduced several years ago.
Andreeva’s talent has been known for several years, but becoming the champion at such a prestigious tournament confirmed her progress under Conchita Martinez, who became her coach last year.
One of Martinez’s jobs as Andreeva’s coach is to help her deal with becoming emotional on the court. The teenager is known for losing control sometimes, understandably so, considering she is still so young.
There have been signs of Andreeva becoming more composed on the court. In an episode of the Rennae Stubbs podcast, Williams’ ex-coach compared her to Federer, since the Swiss also used to have a temper that he learned to manage.
“Same as Roger Federer when he was in juniors. He was a psycho and then he gets to play pro and he realized really quickly, ‘Oh.. that doesn’t work. This works.'”
That was not the only comparison Stubbs made. She also remembers the 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys struggling mentally on the court for a long time, but the American is now a different player.
“Mirra Andreeva to me is similar (to Madison Keys) in a lot of ways. She was such a mental case on the court at times and I was like, ‘Is this kid ever going to reel this in?’ And now she looks like a completely different player.”
Keys spoke openly after her Australian Open title run about how going to therapy helped her cope better on the court. She does not think that stunning success in Melbourne would have happened without it.
Andreeva did not take that step, but her mental maturity is evident. The Dubai Championships winner will undoubtedly make further improvements in those areas as she continues to grow and mature over the coming years.
Federer’s achievements and demeanor on the court throughout much of his career makes it easy to forget how different he was as a young player. The tennis legend admits to much bad behavior before cutting it out and maturing.
Over the years, Federer became known for his classiness, fair play, and impeccable conduct on and off the court. Those qualities inspired some fans as much as his elegant playing style, which led to his winning 20 Grand Slams.
Although Andreeva has a very long road ahead to come near Federer’s achievements, her continued technical, physical, and mental development improves her chances of having a memorable and iconic career on the WTA Tour.
The young star’s next tournament will be the 2025 Indian Wells Open next week. Iga Swiatek, whom Andreeva beat in the quarterfinal of her run to glory in Dubai, Coco Gauff, and Aryna Sabalenka are among the players set to compete.
