Mirra Andreeva punished for Indian Wells explosion as star slaps herself and hurls racket | Tennis | Sport

Mirra Andreeva is the reigning champion in Indian Wells, but the 18-year-old was made to work to try and keep her title defence alive, and ultimately suffered a huge upset at the hands of Katerina Siniakova, losing 4-6 7-5(5) 6-3. Andreeva came back from an early break down to take the first set over Siniakova, the doubles world No. 3, who is also a formidable singles player. But the second set became tense as Siniakova started complaining about the minimal time Andreeva took while serving.

Siniakova was still able to get the break in the first game of set two. Umpire Jennifer Zhang tried to ask Andreeva to slow down in between points, but the No. 8 seed walked up to the chair and argued that she could do what she liked. “Well if I’m serving, it’s up to me if it’s bothering me or not, right? And she was already [in] place,” Andreeva said.

“No, but it’s both players. She was not [there] yet actually,” the chair umpire replied. The defending champion continued making her point. “Well, because I’m still serving, so my focus is on the ball. So if I don’t see her, it means she doesn’t bother me. You see everything so you can say that this and that can bother everyone. I’m serving. If she’s not bothering me…” she explained.

Zhang reminded Andreeva that it went “two ways”, and that it wasn’t only for the server to dictate a fast pace in between points. The eighth seed marched back to the baseline and broke straight back to level the score at 1-1. Siniakova then asked the umpire whether she was able to use the video review system to check whether Andreeva was too quick in between points. “Just let me answer her, I think I can make her understand,” Zheng replied. No challenge came from Siniakova, but both players seemed riled up.

The second set became a dogfight, there were eight-deuce games and countless break points. Andreeva pumped her fists and yelled “come on” during the big points. But the 18-year-old became frustrated when she blew a break point at 2-1 and punched her thigh repeatedly.

“Andreeva really getting upset with herself here. Don’t like seeing that. At least she’s doing it with her fist this time and not her racket, but don’t want to see that. Did that in Dubai as well,” world feed commentator John Horn said. Siniakova was able to hold serve, but they continued to trade breaks as the set went on.

When Sky Sports’ coverage cut to Andreeva vs Siniakova in the middle of the second set, commentators Naomi Broady and Naomi Cavaday gave viewers a recap of the drama. “A lot of emotion. There’s been some drama, we can’t forget the drama,” retired British ace Broady said.

“Siniakova not happy with how quickly Andreeva is playing on serve, especially between first and second serve. Often saying to the chair umpire, ‘I’m not ready’. Chair umpire tried to ask Andreeva to slow down, who wasn’t having any of it. Andreeva said, ‘It’s my serve, I’m playing to my rhythm’. And the chair umpire said, ‘Well, that’s true, but you also have to wait for your opponent to have walked across to be ready to receive’. So there’s a little bit of drama and some very loud shrieks of ‘come on’ in each other’s direction. But for the most part, battling with themselves to find their best level.

Cavaday added: “It’s the first meeting between the two, and it’s fair to say they haven’t made friends throughout this match. In terms of the most recent games, Andreeva was 2-1 up and had 0-40 and then just fell to pieces. Some unforced errors, very frustrated at herself, slapping her thigh.”

The rollercoaster continued as Andreeva broke to love when the Czech star served for the second set. Siniakova managed to take it to a tiebreak, where Andreeva misfired a forehand well long to hand her opponent the set after a staggering 73 minutes. The No. 8 seed chucked her racket across the court and, while receiving a code violation for racket abuse, continued to slam it into the ground by her bench. And there was more drama, as Broady and Cavaday speculated whether Siniakova was injured and limping, despite winning the marathon second set.

Andreeva also seemingly asked her entire team to leave her box. Cameras cut to the empty seats, and Broady told viewers: “I’m pretty sure this is the box of Andreeva, and she told the coaching team, including Conchita [Martinez], to leave after that second set.” They soon returned in the third set, with coach Martinez all smiles when Andreeva broke to lead 3-2.

But the tide turned again, and Siniakova reeled off four straight games to win the match and send the reigning champion packing. Andreeva became increasingly frustrated and started clashing with the crowd, with some scattered boos ringing out as she left the court, waving her hands at them.

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