Modest Andreeva makes no claim to fame

Mirra Andreeva is carrying no pretensions of fame as the teenaged defending champion returns to defend her title at the WTA Dubai event.

The world No. 7 scored a prestige win here a year ago at the Aviation club as she lifted the trophy with a defeat of Clara Tauson.

After rising in the standings thanks to backing up her Gulf title with a Masters title  a few weeks later at Indian Wells, the 18-year-old continued to make progress by claiming last month’s Adelaide honours.

But Andreeva, coached by former Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez, prefers to keep life as simple as possible.

The youngster feels uncomfortable when she is compared to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, a Dubai absentee after a late withdrawal.

“I always travel with my family. For me it’s not as difficult as I would have imagined, maybe for some players like Aryna.

“She’s maybe three times more famous, maybe even
four times more famous. I think for her it’s maybe a little bit more difficult.”

Andreeva comes into her title defence after a third-round loss last week in nearby Doha, going down to Canadian Victoria Mboko whom she beat in the Adelaide final a month ago.

Mboko, who reached the weekend Doha final against Dubai seed Elena Rybakina, subsequently withdrew from Dubai with injury.

“I’m actually very excited to come back here again and play in front of the people here,” Andreeva said. “Obviously I have great memories from
last year, so I just can’t wait for the tournament to start.

“I cannot say for sure if I’m going to be able to defend the title or not, because

obviously it’s a new year, new tournament. 

“I’m going to do everything I can to try and defend the title because this is the first time I come to the tournament as a defending champion. It’s something
new for me.

“I can’t wait to play my first match here and we will see how it goes.”

Main photo:-Mirra Andreeva in action at last month’s Australian Open – by ISF Ltd