By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Sunday, February 23, 2025
Photo credit: VCG/Getty
Mirra Andreeva made history as the youngest WTA 1000 champion with her Dubai title run on Saturday.
The 17-year-old Andreeva debuts in the Top 10 this week becoming the youngest woman to crack the Top 10 since a 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova in 2007.
MORE: Andreeva Sweeps Swiatek in Dubai
Two months into the 2025 season, Andreeva has already knocked off three Grand Slam champions—Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Marketa Vondrousova—captured her second career title and posted a 13-3 record.
So what’s Andreeva’s ultimate goal this season?
Crack the Top 5.
“Now when you enter top 10 and the higher your ranking is, the slower and longer it’s going to take for you to be even higher because the difference in the points is very, very short, very small,” Andreeva told the media in Dubai. “I think that if I win another tournament, I’m going to be top 8.
“If I win another tournament, I can still be top 8 and I can just stay there. I think it’s going to be hard to enter top 5.
“This is the exact goal that I’m going to set for myself, to be top 5 by the end of the year. I’m very curious if I will be able to achieve it.”
Andreeva fought off WTA ace leader Clara Tauson 7-6(1), 6-1 in the Dubai final on Saturday to collect her biggest career title.
Afterward, the 22-year-old Tauson, who surprised No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka en route to the final, said Andreeva is no longer a promising phenom, she is a true title contender on all surfaces.
“I mean, I don’t think she’s promising anymore. I think she’s at the top of our game,” Tauson said of Andreeva. “I mean, yeah, she never goes away. She fights for every single point. She plays some annoying slices.
“When I think I’ve maybe won the point, she’s there all the time. I mean, I think with a little bit of a fresher body and mind, I could have done some more. But yeah, the first three games were probably the most energy I had in the whole match.
“Yeah, she’s obviously a great player and congrats to her.”
