By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Photo credit: Tony Chang/Chang Photography
Andy Roddick knows what it takes to reach the top.
Former world No. 1 Roddick says 17-year-old phenom Mirra Andreeva is on an express route to the sport’s summit.
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Earlier this month, Andreeva defused world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the BNP Paribas Open final to capture her second consecutive WTA 1000 championship at Indian Wells.
One round after Andreeva dethroned defending champion and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-3 charging into her maiden Indian Wells final, Andreeva deconstructed Sabalenka with unsettling variation.
Writing for in his column for for Betway, Roddick said Andreeva’s smooth movement and shrewd court sense have always been assets and her Indian Wells run showed she has the stinging serve, strength and stamina, even at age 17, to beat the best.
Roddick said Andreeva will be world No. 1.
“What impresses me most about Mirra Andreeva is her ability to stand up physically against the best players in the world. I thought that physicality was going to take some time,” Roddick told Betway. “It’s not eash when you’re trying to beat people as physically dominant as Sabalenka and Sviatek and you’re 17.
“I’ve never questioned her tennis, but she’s serving now like she’s levelled up amazingly well in the last four or five months.
“She’s able to open up the shoulders on the forehand cross, her movement is already elite and there aren’t a lot of holes in her game. I don’t know that anyone ever really questioned her tennis IQ, which is crazy to say about someone who’s 17.”
Last June, Andreeva toppled Sabalenka en route to her maiden major semifinal at Roland Garros.
Andreeva is the third-youngest woman to win Indian Wells after her tennis hero, Martina Hingis (1998) and legendary Serena Williams (1999). Additionally, Andreeva joins Steffi Graf and Serena as the third player under age 18 to topple the world No. 1 and world No. 2 at the same event.
The sixth-ranked Andreeva is headed toward the top, Roddick told Betway.
“I said on our show a month ago that I thought she looks like a future World No. 1 for sure,” Roddick said. “I don’t like to jump from winning in Dubai to Steffi Graf comparisons – that seems like we’re skipping a couple of years – but just based on how she’s playing, she’s going to be firmly in the conversation to be one of the top couple of players this year.
“She seems like she’s fluent on all surfaces, she had a great run at Roland Garros last year and it seems like she’s fine matching up against the top players in the world. Everything points to her being a contender sooner than later.”
