Drama in the Russian final. The sensational champion couldn’t even lift the cup

The Australian Open is coming to an end, but the main final for the Russian public has already become history. Our girls competed for the title in the decisive match of the junior tour, giving the audience a dramatic fight and indescribable emotions.

For more than three hours, the Russians fought on the main court in Melbourne. All forces were left in the fight for the main trophy in their lives. At the end, no one held back their emotions, and the winner could not even cope with the cup.

Historic ending

Russian tennis players ended early in the fight for the title in the main draw of the women’s tournament, which was later played by Moscow-born Yelena Rybakina, representing Kazakhstan, and Belarusian Arina Sobolenko. But in the junior tournament, a truly unique event happened, which has never happened before at the Australian Open. At once, two of our young stars Mirra Andreeva and Alina Korneeva reached the final of the tournament among girls under 16 years old.

Andreeva’s appearance in the main match was quite predictable. Mirra has been fighting senior athletes for a long time and has several ITF tournament victories. She also boasts good prize money for 15 years. Its powerful delivery of 180 km / h is already intimidating to rivals.

Alina Korneeva is not so successful at the adult level. The trip to Australia was the first in her career for the 15-year-old Muscovite. She came there with her mother. At the same time, Alina and Mirra have been friends for a long time. Together they won the World Championship among children’s teams and played at the Australian Open in doubles, where they reached the semi-finals.

Mirra Andreeva and Alina Korneeva / Photo: © Robert Prange / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“I couldn’t play my best”

Friendship is friendship, and the title had to be played. And then the young Russians staged an uncompromising struggle on the main court of Melbourne. This confrontation went on for more than three hours. It took three sets of young tennis players to determine the owner of the prestigious trophy.

As a result, victory in a stubborn struggle went to Alina Korneeva, in whose success only a few believed. To celebrate, the winner clutched her head, realizing the incredible success. Andreeva burst into tears after the loss. Even her friend could not calm her down during a long hug near the net.

At the same time, you need to understand how hard Korneeva’s victory was. She could well refuse to fight for the title, as she was in severe pain that prevented her from playing at full strength.

– Firstly, I want to say that in the second set I thought about giving up due to abdominal pain and a leg injury. I could not play at the maximum and show everything that I am capable of. But I think that today’s match depended on my mood, on how mentally prepared I was. I couldn’t run much, but psychologically it was a good match, the newly-made champion admitted after the game.

Alina also did not forget to turn to her friend to support her after a heavy defeat in the final.

Mirra is a very good tennis player and I know that we will play many games in the future. I know that sometimes she will win. It’s okay, that’s life. I told her not to cry because it was a very hard fight and there were a lot of good moments. She showed her best side. And I congratulate Mirra, because it was a good week for her, – added Korneeva.

Alina Korneeva / Photo: © Robert Prange / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

The final ended with the awards ceremony, where a funny incident happened. Alina, who left all her strength on the court, could not lift the coveted trophy over her head the first time. I had to strain a little, which caused a kind smile from those around me.

I would like to believe that next year Alina and Mirra will come to the Australian Open and compete for victory in the adult tournament.