Mirra Andreeva had enough.
The defending Indian Wells champion couldn’t handle the pressure of the title defense at just 18 years old and had an absolute meltdown on the court in Coachella Valley on Monday, as an unseeded Katerina Siniakova got the best of her, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the Round of 32.
Andreeva threw her racket after losing the second set tiebreaker before going on to smash it, which gave her a code violation. She threw her racket again following match point.
After shaking hands with Siniakova, she stormed off the court and boiled over as she screamed “F–k you all” repeatedly to the crowd, some of whom booed her.
Andreeva showed some grit in the first set when she bounced back from a 0-3, double-break deficit to win it 6-4. However, things went out of control from there as the pressures of being a favorite mounted and Siniakova, who is a world No.1 in doubles, frustrated her.
She earned 26 break points but only converted seven, and made twice as many unforced errors as winners.
When asked who the outburst was directed at, Andreeva explained it was toward everyone, including herself.
“It was to myself, to everyone, basically,” she said. “I mean, after the loss, I just get very angry, so I say those things sometimes to myself. I mean, first to myself, of course, but then, yeah, it was just anger coming out, just a lot of emotions. Not really towards anyone.”
After some time to think on her third-round singles loss, the Russian player felt some remorse for her actions on the court.
“Well, of course, I can say that there were a lot of emotions that I was going through after the loss,” Andreeva said to the press following her doubles win with Victoria Mboko. “But, of course, I’m not really proud of how I managed it. I’m not really proud of how I handled it in the end.
“Those are the things that really need to work on soon. I don’t know. Not in the future but whenever I get the chance.”
During the tiebreak, as Andreeva smashed her racket during the changeover, she also asked her team, including coach Conchita Martinez, to leave the court.
Since her two WTA 1000 titles last year — Dubai and Indian Wells — she has gone as far as one semifinal and eight quarterfinals, losing seven of them.
Her ascension in the sport has brought on new responsibilities and expectations that her match management hasn’t appeared to catch up to yet.
Andreeva, currently No. 8 in the world, will enter the doubles quarterfinal round on Wednesday to continue her shot at another title in the California desert.