andreeva murray dubai

DUBAI—As a reigning silver medalist in Olympic women’s doubles, Mirra Andreeva would rank among the favorites to win the newly revamped US Open mixed doubles event, set to debut later this summer.

“I think for singles players it's great because they get to practice,” the No. 12 seed said after winning two matches in one day to reach the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships quarterfinals. “They get to have a bit of fun before the nervous two weeks starts.”

But which ATP player would Andreeva pick as her partner? Unsurprisingly, idol Andy Murray ranks among her top picks—but he would have to come out of retirement first:

Mirra Andreeva plans to frame Andy Murray's tweet and "bring it everywhere with me" | Australian Open

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Q. Back to the mixed doubles. Are you thinking of playing the tournament? If not Andy Murray, who do you consider partnering with?

MIRRA ANDREEVA: I don't think Andy's going to play (smiling).

Well, I don't know. I actually haven't really thought about it. But I think it could be really fun. I think to have an opportunity to play with an ATP player on the same side of the court is great.

Me, I don't really care with who to play, if I would play. But of course it would be one of my dreams to play with Andy. If I would ask him, he would say, ‘Mirra, are you crazy, I'm not going to play.’ I don't think he wants to. I don't think he will even have time for it. But everything can happen, so...

Yeah, I don't know if I will play. If I would, I would definitely have a lot of fun.

The 17-year-old Andreeva has withstood a hectic schedule in Dubai, getting rained out of her second round on Tuesday only to have to come back and play twice on Wednesday, defeating both Marketa Vondrousova and Peyton Stearns in straight sets to book her spot in the last eight.

Awaiting her there is No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek, an opponent few would choose to face—in singles or mixed doubles.

“Of course, it's going to be an entertaining match. It's never easy to play against a top player. I've played against her once in Cincinnati, and I think that was a good match, considering that it was the first time me playing against her.

“I already know what to expect from her. I think she knows, of course, what to expect from me. I hope that we can put on a great level of game and we're going to see who will be stronger tomorrow.”