Mirra Andreeva’s stunning run to the Madrid Open semi-finals has been nothing short of electrifying—but it came with a moment of raw emotion she’d rather forget. During her fourth-round clash against Anna Bondar, the young star let a commanding 5-1 lead slip away in the third set. Frustration boiled over as she shouted toward her coach, tennis legend Conchita Martinez, and her team: “I’m not a champion. I will lose. I choke.”
Despite that outburst, Andreeva managed to regroup and grind out the win, then followed it up with a straight-sets victory over Leylah Fernandez in the quarter-finals. But the emotional moment sparked a bigger question: how does Martinez handle these meltdowns from her fiery protégé?
Appearing on Game Set Madrid, Martinez opened up about the challenge. “It’s very difficult,” she admitted. “From the box, before these situations happen, we try to make them happen less—to create opportunities so she’s less explosive on the court. You’re just trying to make her believe in herself.”
Martinez even confessed to losing her cool a bit herself. “I think I yelled at her yesterday. Sometimes I’ve thought about sending her a kiss to make her laugh—I don’t know—but it’s about getting her out of it.”
Fortunately for Andreeva, her raw talent far outweighs any temperament concerns. After surviving Bondar, she breezed past Fernandez to reach her first Madrid Open semi-final. Now the highest seed left in the draw, she’s the favorite to lift the title.
Next up is Hailey Baptiste, the American who has already upset two top-10 players in Madrid—Jasmine Paolini and Aryna Sabalenka. Andreeva holds a 1-0 head-to-head record against Baptiste, having beaten her in straight sets at Wimbledon last year. But she’d be wise not to underestimate the 24-year-old’s momentum.
If Andreeva advances, she’ll face either Marta Kostyuk or Anastasia Potapova in the final. With her game on the rise and a coach who knows how to keep her focused, the tennis world is watching to see if this rising star can channel that fire into a championship moment.