World No. 7 Mirra Andreeva answered questions about her childhood.
– There`s a video of you from when you were 10 years old where you said you wanted to win all Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympics. At what point and why did you realize you could become a great tennis player, and when did these ambitions arise?
– I think every child who starts their journey in sports dreams of big, big goals. Most likely, all children dream of becoming the world number one and winning all the Slams and the Olympics. I was probably just one of those kids. But I still haven`t accomplished any of that yet. I hope everything is still ahead. So I will just continue to believe in myself and work, work, work.
– Was there a moment in childhood or adolescence when you truly believed in yourself?
– In childhood, probably not. And even at the junior level, it`s hard to say that I`m the coolest here and will beat everyone. Everyone generally knows that victories at the junior level are not really an indicator. Of course, now I would say that I am quite confident in what I do on the court. Not so much confident in myself, but confident in my game.
– Your first coach abroad, Frenchman Jean-Rene Lisnard, told me that Russian parents, when they believe in their tennis-playing child, are ready to do absolutely everything and even more for them. What did your mom and dad do that impresses you the most now?
– If we needed to go to a tournament and I, hypothetically, wanted my dad to go with me, he would drop everything and go with me. Because I wanted it that way. Or vice versa: if I wanted my mom to go with me, we would somehow organize everything so that it would be exactly like that. They just listened to Erica and me and helped us do what we love. And they still do. For which I am very grateful to them.
– Have you ever thought about the fact that for the sake of tennis you sacrificed a significant part of your childhood and didn`t spend time like all ordinary children? And were you ever angry about it?
– I wasn`t angry. I actually had a wonderful childhood. When I remember it, I almost get tears in my eyes. Because it was just a golden time! I spent a lot of it at my grandparents` house. We spent the whole summer with them, playing with Erica in everything possible. Unfortunately, in the middle of some of our games, parents would come, pick us up and take us to training, and that was always sad and upsetting. But I don`t regret anything at all. My childhood is a very precious time for me.
