PARIS — With the insouciance of a 17-year-old having the time of her life in Paris, Mirra Andreeva explained how she and her coach work out a game plan before a tennis match — and then she forgets all about that, preferring to just wing it.
Seems to be working out fine so far: The unseeded Russian is the youngest Grand Slam semifinalist in more than a quarter-century.
Playing in only her fifth major tournament, Andreeva got past ill No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 at the French Open on Wednesday. In Thursday’s semifinals at Roland Garros, Andreeva will go up against another surprising player: No. 12 Jasmine Paolini, a 28-year-old Italian who reached her first major semifinal by defeating No. 4 Elena Rybakina 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
“I always play the way I want to play. We have a plan with my coach for the match, but after, I forget everything, and when I play a match, I don’t have any thoughts in my head,” said the 38th-ranked Andreeva, who is based in Cannes and coached by 1994 Wimbledon women’s singles champion Conchita Martinez. “So maybe I would say that my strength could be that I just play how I want to play and I do whatever I want to do.”
Words many the parent of a teenager probably has heard at home.