Mirra Andreeva didn’t get a handshake from Elina Svitolina due to well-documented reasons but that didn’t prevent the 17-year-old from delivering a class act and applauding the former world No. 3 as she was exiting the court following their Indian Wells match.
The Russian, who is coming off the biggest title of her career in Dubai, defeated the Ukrainian tennis star 7-5 6-3 in the Indian Wells quarterfinal to improve to 10 wins in a row.
After losing in their first-ever meeting, Svitolina went to the chair umpire and shook hands before going to her bench to pick up her stuff. However, that wasn’t something that surprised anyone in the stands since Ukrainian players haven’t been shaking hands with Russian and Belarusian players for exactly three years now.
And Andreeva definitely didn’t look mad or annoyed with that move since she was pictured by the official WTA Tour photographer demonstrating an act of respect for her rival.
Mirra Andreeva applauds opponent Elina Svitolina after their Indian Wells QF match. pic.twitter.com/7EQTC4RvJV
— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) March 14, 2025
Andreeva didn’t allow herself to be distracted
After setting up a meeting against Svitolina, the 17-year-old was directly asked if she could feel some awkwardness knowing that her next opponent would be a Ukrainian who wouldn’t shake hands with her afterward. In her response, the Russian simply said she would focus on her game and not allow any distractions to happen to her.
“Yeah, of course it’s not easy, but I have played maybe… I don’t know, four or five matches against Ukrainian players. And, I just try not to think about it. I just try to focus on my game, to do my routines, to prepare myself that it’s not going to be easy,” Andreeva said.
The world No. 9 successfully completed that task against Svitolina and now she is set to battle Iga Swiatek for a place in the Indian Wells final.
Tennis World USA