LONDON — The first thing Erika Andreeva does when asked about her younger sister’s recent success is break into a wide smile. Her eyes light up at the thought of the title Mirra won at Roland Garros last May.
Soon, that joy gives way to a deep personal sense of inadequacy. The elder Andreeva reflects with candour: “I feel extremely bad, almost like I’m not good enough, I have to do better.”
“I don’t know if [Mirra’s triumph] helps or not. I will not lie, it is such a big pressure because you don’t feel the same way [about yourself] as you feel for your sister. I feel really proud of her, because I know how she challenges herself, things you don’t see on the screen, I know what she deals with,” she told CLAY and a small group of journalists in London.
The 22-year-old Russian, whose best ranking was 65th in October 2024, naturally draws comparisons with the current world number five: “I see what’s going on next to me, and basically we work equally hard — but I feel like I’m not good enough, like I’m not doing well enough, like I’m not doing what I’m supposed to do.”
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
Érika Andreeva is recovering from a very difficult season marked by injuries and a steep drop in the rankings. She admitted the relentless competition schedule wore her down and that she urgently needed a break.
“I had a very big streak of losing. I wasn’t mentally in the right place. I think last match in the Wimbledon qualies in 2025, I was top 100, and I was devastated to lose in first round. At that point I didn’t enjoy the game. I didn’t feel myself on the court at all. After the match I was with my coach and said let’s have a break and see if I want to play again. I took two or three months, I didn’t play or do anything at all, and then I started to go back on the tournaments,” Andreeva said with candour.
“I’m trying to gain my way back,” she said. The Russian won her first match in the Wimbledon qualifying rounds, but fell on Wednesday to North American Karla Day.
The world number 238 watched on television as her sister defeated Polish player Maja Chwalińska in the Roland Garros final, a leap into immortality at 19 years old. The elder sister was competing in lower-level tournaments in Croatia: “We were traveling. Of course it’s strange but also I don’t know if it would have helped. Tennis players have their own superstitions. So if she started the tournament with certain amount of people like with my mum and coaches, better not to change anything (laughs).”
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
They did celebrate together once they were reunited at home.
“We went [to see] a Louis Vuitton bag. Our mum was like no, you’re not going to buy this bag for this amount of money, no. And then [Mirra] celebrated by buying two pairs of Jimmy Choo little heels, so we were choosing. But that’s it,” she said.
“We try to have as much as possible practice at the same place, so like this we can spend more time together. I don’t feel a huge separation feeling or something because also quite often we are travelling with our parents, and are always in contact, so it feels ok.”
“But for sure it’s only good feelings about her result. We chat a lot, even before my matches in London we were chatting together.”
