Tennis
Triumph of a new star from Russia! Mirra is on a par with Sharapova and the Williams sisters
Mirra Andreeva / Photo: © VCG / Contributor / Visual China Group / Gettyimages.ru
Andreeva had a strong debut season and undoubtedly deserved the prestigious award.
After the end of the tennis season, it’s time to present awards. The WTA, while rewarding all the worthy, could not ignore the incredible progress of 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva. The Russian made a powerful debut at the senior level, thanks to which she was put on a par with Maria Sharapova and the Williams sisters.
Phenomenal season
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has announced the 2023 Rookie of the Year Award. Previously, this award was received by Martina Hingis, Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Arina Sabalenka, among others. Now the time has come for Russian Mirra Andreeva, who has had a simply phenomenal season, to enter the elite club. The 16-year-old tennis player beat out American Peyton Stearns, Czech Linda Noskova and two more representatives of our country – Diana Schneider and Elina Avanesyan – in the fight for the prestigious prize.
It is unlikely that the choice of the WTA causes any misunderstanding. Mirra has truly made incredible progress. The Russian started the year at 405th position in the WTA rankings, and in November reached 46th position. In the current ranking, Andreeva can see a slight decline – 57th place. But this does not in any way negate the fact that our tennis player had a strong season.
A year ago, Andreeva was simply a promising tennis player, but whether she would be able to realize her potential was impossible to say with certainty. At the beginning of 2023, the tennis player made some noise at the junior Australian Open, reaching the final, and a few months later she was already shining at the adult level. First there was a series of victories at ITF tournaments, and then it came to local success at Grand Slam tournaments.
“Deserved this award”
At the French Open, Andreeva made her way through qualification. On the way to the big tournament, the Russian woman had to defeat three rivals, including seed leader Camila Osorio from Colombia. In the main draw, Mirra’s participation was not limited to one match: she reached the third round, where she even managed to take a set from the sixth racket of the tournament, American Cori Gauff.
Wimbledon turned out to be even more successful for Andreeva. We also had to make our way there through qualifications, and at the tournament itself, our young star managed to reach the fourth round, knocking out the Chinese Xia Wang, Czech Barbora Krejcikova and another Russian Anastasia Potapova.
In fact, each victory in itself was a sensation. As a result, it turned out that Mirra repeated the record of world tennis legend Maria Sharapova. Apart from two Russian athletes, in the 21st century no one else has reached the fourth round of the Wimbledon tournament under the age of 17.
— Mirra deserved this award. From childhood, she emerged into a group of professional tennis players who are reckoned with. She was able to score several victories over high-level players, even top ten players. Of course, this may be some kind of advance, but an advance that will give her faith that she can achieve what she plays for,” noted Honored Master of Sports of the USSR Anna Dmitrieva in an interview with RIA Novosti Sport.
It can also be noted that last season Andreeva managed to beat four tennis players who were in the top 20 of the WTA rankings. Perhaps, the only thing missing so far is significant titles, but Mirra has everything to fix this, and already in the next season.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
Ukraine’s first racket Elina Svitolina (WTA 14) became the “Opening Week” participant of the Australian Open 2026.
On January 14, 2026, the Ukrainian will play an exhibition match against Amanda Anisimova (USA, WTA 4) at the tournament’s main stadium, Rod Laver Arena.
The meeting will be held in the format of two standard sets as the deciding game and a super tiebreak up to 10 points.
There will also be four more exhibition matches: Elena Rybakina – Zheng Qingwen, Alexander Zverev – Lorenzo Musetti, Carlos Alcaraz – Alex de Minaur, Jannik Sinner – Felix Auger-Aliassime.
After the match between Svitolina and Anisimova, Rod Laver Arena will host the AO 1 Point Slam tournament, where tennis stars Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Daniil Medvedev, Zheng Qingwen, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jasmine Paolini will compete against amateurs.
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Tennis
22-28.12 Schedule and results of matches between Ukrainians and Ukrainians at ITF tournaments
Sport.ua presents the schedule and results of matches of Ukrainian tennis players at the ITF World Tour tournaments from December 15 to 21
men
M15 Antalya (Türkiye – location), Antalya Series
Singles, elimination, first round
- Maxim Khlyvnyuk (Ukraine) – Ibrahim Yego (Kenya) – absent
- Filip Pavic (Kosovo) – Andrey Bilata (Ukraine) – without
Singles, qualifiers, second round
- Maxim Khlyvnyuk (Ukraine) – Stefanos Schinas (Greece, 15) – 23.12, at 10:00 at the latest
- Alexandru Balan (Canada, 6) – Andrey Bilata (Ukraine) – 23.12, 12:30 at the latest
Singles, first round
- TVA – Nikita Bilozertsev (Ukraine, 6) –TVA
- TVA – Ilya Biloborodko (Ukraine) –TVA
- TVA – Alexander Ovcharenko (Ukraine, 2) –TVA
Doubles, first round
- Dillon Beckles (USA) and Alexander Wagner (Austria) – Nikita Bilozertsev (Ukraine) and Alp Horoz (Türkiye) – TVA
- William Mirarchi (Italy) and Daniil Stepanov – Mihai Marinescu (Romania) and Alexander Ovcharenko (Ukraine, 4) –TVA
M15 Monastir (Tunisia – difficult), FTT by Magic Hotel Tours
Singles, elimination, first round
- Kazuki Nishiwaki (Japan, 6) – Arseniy Mironov (Ukraine) – 6:0, 6:0
Women
W15 Antalya (Türkiye – ground), Antalya Series
Singles, elimination, first round
- Anastasia Necule (Romania) – Yaroslava Sribnaya (Ukraine) –TVA
- Arina Yakusheva (Ukraine) – Naz Kaynak (Türkiye) – TVA
- Jamie Collinson (Australia) – Helen Grab (Ukraine) –TVA
- Serafima Vasilyeva (Ukraine) – Öykü Şahbaz (Ukraine) – none
Singles, qualifiers, second round
- Eva Galievskaya (Ukraine, 6) – Honoka Uchiyama (Japan) or Alisa Aksiyanova – TVA
- Serafima Vasilyeva (Ukraine) – Sabina Shaidullina or Ema Garayda (Czech Republic, 14) – TVA
Doubles, first round
- Asylzhan Arystanbekova (Kazakhstan) and Ingkar Dyusebay (Kazakhstan) – Sara Balan (Romania) and Eva Galievskaya (Ukraine) –TVA
- Nanari Katsumi (Romania) and Honoka Uchiyama (Japan) – Helen Grab (Ukraine) and Arina Yakusheva (Ukraine) –TVA
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
20-year-old American tennis player Lerner Tien (ATP 28) Became the winner of the ATP 2025 Junior Final Tournament.
The Americans were defeated in the final of the competition held on indoor courts in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). Alexander Blox (Belgium, ATP 116) 1 hour 1 minute.
Next Generation ATP Finals 2025. Final, December 21
Lerner Tien (AMERICA) [1] –Alexander Blox (Belgium) [2] – 4:3 (7:4), 4:2, 4:1
Tien played in the Next Generation finals for the second time. He lost to João Fonseca in the decisive match in 2024.
Lerner suffered one defeat, losing to Rafael Hodar in the first round of the group stage in Jeddah. He then defeated Blox as well as Martin Landaluse, Nikolay Budkov Kjaer and Nishesh Basavareddy.
Tien becomes the second Youth Finals champion after Brandon Nakashima – Nakashima won the Next Gen award in 2022.
Lerner Thien received $502,250 in prize money for his victory at the Next Gen ATP Finals 2025.
Photo gallery of the award ceremony
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
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