Mirra Andreeva steered into the Roland-Garros second week for the third season in a row on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Friday. The 19-year-old’s finest Grand Slam showing to date is a semifinal at RG 2024. The No.8 seed moved past world No.28 Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2 and into the fourth round.
Andreeva’s Pin Collection
An extra pin was an added incentive for the teenager. Just like at the Olympics, the Roland-Garros team have introduced a glistening pin collection this year for players to attach to their accreditation lanyards.
There are 20 in total – five ‘draw’ pins for different event categories, eight in the ‘Roland-Garros’ collection (think Panama hat, umpire’s chair, tennis balls etc.), as well as seven ‘performance’ pins correlating to each round. The 19-year-old, who grew up collecting stickers, has filled the majority of the space on her lanyard, but there is still room for a few more.
“I feel like it’s a very nice addition to the tournament, because that’s what kind of keeps me motivated, because I want to get more pins,” Andreeva said, pointing out her current collection to reporters. “They said that I could get three different pins a day… I took all of them, everything that they had already. They give us one pin per match that you win, so this is the match number one, two, three, and now advance to the fourth round, so I got this one.
“I wear them proudly, and I hope that I can get more, more pins, and fill up my credential. Then we’ll see.”
Olympics Pins
Two years ago, on the very same court, Andreeva collected a Paris 2024 Olympics silver medal alongside Diana Shnaider in the women’s doubles.
“At the Olympics I didn’t live at the Olympic Village, so I was not able to exchange pins with other athletes, but the physios in the locker room also gave me some pins,” Andreeva explained. “Then I saw players here in the locker room, they gave me some, I gave them some. From Olympics I also have a full credential with different kinds of pins.”
Match Highlights
With the opening set locked at 4-4, the world No.8 chased down a drop shot and managed to use a backhand with vicious side spin for her own drop shot to only just dink over the net. In the second set her confidence was sky high.
Backpedalling towards the baseline, out of position, the teenager whipped a forehand cross court just a few millimetres out of Bouzkova’s reach. That hot shot provided the advantage, and Andreeva was soon picking up her latest pin, having become the youngest woman to reach the last 16 in singles in Paris for three consecutive editions since Martina Hingis (1997-99).
“Every time I play against Marie, it’s a tough battle, she’s an incredible competitor,” said Andreeva, having fired 30 winners to remain undefeated.
That’s four performance pins picked up, three to go.