British tennis star Andy Murray defended rising WTA youngster Mirra Andreeva when fellow British tennis Liam Broady decided to make a controversial comment on her mental fortitude.
In an uphill battle for the Russian 16-year-old, Adereeva defeated her third-round opponent Diane Parry, winning the three-round competition 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(5). However, the tale of the match wasn’t at all boring, in fact, the last set was an emotional roller coaster as the youngster Adereeva came back to defend five game points and eventually won the match in the decider.
Many brought Andreeva’s clutch performance to light, and she was hailed for maintaining her composure even in a tough situation. However, before all that happened, the commentators covering the match said that the teenager was still not there mentally as she trailed 1-5 in the final set.
Soon after the incident, an annoyed Andy Murray decided to weigh in on the situation and defended her from the remarks. The British star had this to say about the situation:
“Andreeva down 5-1 in third. Commentator “she really needs to work on the mental side of her game… she’s too hard on herself when she’s losing”
30 minutes later 7-6 Andreeva wins.
Maybe the reason she turned the match round is because of her mental strength. Maybe she turned the match around because she is hard on herself and demands more of herself when she’s losing/playing badly?
Winner.”
British ATP player, Liam Broady, somehow also believed that Andreeva needed to be better with her mentality in the first place and should not have let develop such a big lead for her opponent. His response to Murray’s tweet said that the Russian applied her mental strength at ‘the wrong phase’.
“Mental strength is the wrong phrase. To come from 5-1 down in the third in a slam at her age is great mental strength. But perhaps if she had greater mental composure she wouldn’t have gone 5-1 down in the third in the first place?”
And once again, Murray defended her with a response to Broady’s remarks. In a sharp reply to him, Murray said:
“I don’t understand your tweet. You said mental strength is the wrong phrase and then in the next sentence say coming from 5-1 down is great mental strength. Liam Broady the walking contradiction 🤡,” Murray replied to a tweet from Broady.
“When you’re coming back from this score, it’s kind of easy on the mental side for you,” Mirra Andreeva comments on her epic comeback win.
A blazing Andreeva came back from a set behind and defended five match points to seal her spot in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Speaking to the press, Mirra reflected on her outstanding comeback and said that recovering from a point deficit was easier for her mentally.
“I feel like when you’re coming back from this score, it’s kind of easy on a mental side for you. It’s easier than for your opponent, for sure, because you’re on the run, you’re having all the adrenaline. That’s what I had today,” she said.
The Russian faced a former foe in Barbora Krejčíková in the fourth round of the competition but couldn’t go past her. Barbora, on the other hand, got her revenge on Andreeva from the past year’s Wimbledon match as she defeated her in three sets scoring 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and ended the teenager’s stunning run in Australia.
