Coach Conchita Martinez Explains Psychologist’s Role in Mirra Andreeva’s Rise After French Open Triumph

The grass swing is underway, but Mirra Andreeva is not in action. The last match that she played was in the final of the French Open.

She stopped fellow first-time Grand Slam finalist Maja Chwalinska from completing her fairytale run with a straight-set win, becoming the third youngest woman in this century to win a Major. Her coach, Conchita Martinez, during her interview with Bolshoi Tennis, talked about a significant change in Andreeva’s team that helped her rise.

Back in 2024, Andreeva played her career’s first Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open (lost to Jasmine Paolini), but later at Wimbledon, the Russian ace lost to Brenda Fruhvirtova in the first round. It was at that time that Conchita noticed her protege was dealing with a lot of anxiety.

After Wimbledon that same year, she suffered a difficult first-round loss. I saw a lot of anxiety and other things that shouldn’t be there. When you’re 17 or 18 years old, you should be enjoying the game and focusing on how to improve. I saw areas that needed work mentally. We had a conversation the next day. She asked me about my own experience because I had worked with a psychologist during my playing career.

Martinez has lauded the teenager’s willingness to improve her game. She believes players sometimes know what the problem is and hire coaches to fix it without any intention of making any progress. But Andreeva is not like this.

I told her about my experience and said that I thought she would benefit greatly from working with a psychologist. It took a little longer than expected to find the right person, but eventually we did. She has now been working with a psychologist for about a year and a half. We work very closely together. I speak with the psychologist often about what they’re working on because I’m around Mirra almost all the time.

Conchita Martinez added

It was Andreeva’s third title of the season. Before the French Open, she won the Adelaide International by beating Victoria Mboko and later defeated Anastasia Potapova at the Linz Open. Andreeva also reached the Madrid Open final but lost to Marta Kostyuk.

Rennae Stubbs picks three players to win Wimbledon ahead of Mirra Andreeva

Rennae Stubbs doesn’t think Mirra Andreeva will enter Wimbledon as the heavy favorite. Though Serena Williams‘ coach thinks Andreeva has it in her game to win the title at SW19, she picked Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, and Jessica Pegula as the favorites to win ahead of the 19-year-old.

So there’s no way I’m going to discount her on any surface, and depending on who’s still at the pointy end of a tournament, Mirra Andreeva now is a Grand Slam champion, knows that she can do it. So, I mean, top three, I’m not sure, because I put Sabalenka, Rybakina, and I would even put Pegula in front of her.

Rybakina and Sabalenka are Grand Slam champions, but Pegula has so far played just one final at this level (2024 US Open, which she lost to Sabalenka). The Kazakh ace defeated Sabalenka in this year’s Australian Open, winning her career’s second Grand Slam title. Prior to the Melbourne Major, the World No.2 clinched the 2022 Wimbledon against Ons Jabeur.

Sabalenka, in this year’s French Open, suffered defeat at the hands of Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals. She has already lifted three titles this season (Brisbane International, Indian Wells, and the Miami Open). Pegula has so far played two finals, winning both (2026 Dubai Tennis Championships and 2026 Charleston Open).

The Wimbledon Championships starts on June 29. Iga Swiatek will be playing as the defending champion.

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