With incredible results comes heightened expectations.

Few know this better than Mirra Andreeva, who, earlier this year, won 12 consecutive matches in a month’s span to capture back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells.

Her 2025 record improved to 19-3 with those two tournament wins — the most wins, at the time, of any player on the Hologic WTA Tour — and she vaulted into the Top 10.

That would be a lot to handle for a longtime veteran of the tour … much less a 17-year-old.

Now 18 — still the youngest player in the Top 35 of the PIF WTA Rankings — Andreeva is acutely aware of the pressure she felt post-Indian Wells, and as the season enters the Asian swing, her focus is on staying positive and enjoying the moment.

“I’m trying to really focus on enjoying the game more,” the World No. 5 said. “After I won those titles, I started to feel more pressure and more expectations. I’m working on being positive, having a good mindset and just trying to enjoy the game, and do whatever I want to do on court without overthinking.

“After I won those two titles, I felt like people were expecting me to win every tournament I play, which I think we all knew would be impossible. But I think that is an experience I had to go through. You have to go through this, take the positives out of that, try to improve and learn from your mistakes. Every day I try to learn, and I get older, maybe a little bit wiser, maybe a little bit smarter.'”

Though she hasn’t won a third title this year, Andreeva has consistently performed on the biggest stage, going 13-4 at Grand Slams and reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open and Wimbledon.

Her worst major result this year came at the most recent one, the US Open, where she was upset by American Taylor Townsend in the third round. Though she wasn’t using it as an excuse, she did admit that she didn’t feel particularly confident in New York after injuring her left ankle in Montreal. (She subsequently withdrew from the Cincinnati Open because of it.)

She’s gotten some much-needed rest and recovery time since the Open — perhaps the only perk of a premature exit — and is feeling strong and healthy for the final surge of the season.

“I feel good, my ankle is good,” she said. “We did a good job in recovery, and strengthening it. I hope it’s not gonna bother me for the rest of the season. I hope it’s not gonna bother me at all until the end of my life. But for now, I’m feeling healthy.”

Andreeva is playing the China Open this week, where she’s the fourth seed, and is scheduled to play the Wuhan Open — the final WTA 1000 tournament of the season — in early October and the WTA 500 Ningbo Open the week after.

The ultimate goal? Qualifying for the WTA Finals in Riyadh, which pits the top eight players in the world against each other in a round-robin format. 

This would be her first-ever qualification into the year-end event, and she’s currently in a strong position at No. 5. With 4,793 points, she’s currently 316 points behind World No. 4 Amanda Anisimova and 214 points ahead of No. 6 Madison Keys. No. 8 Jasmine Paolini, currently in the eighth and final position, trails Andreeva by 787 points.

“That would mean the world to me because I’m still 18, I’m pretty young, and to be able to qualify for the WTA Finals and play with seven other great players would be amazing,” Andreeva said. “It would be a great challenge for me. I’m going to try to do my best to make it there.”

Andreeva has a first-round bye in Beijing, and will face either Moyuka Uchijima or Zhu Lin in the second round.