ANDY MURRAY jumped to the defence of 16-year-old tennis star Mirra Andreeva after a commentator questioned her mentality at the Australian Open.
Andreeva fought back from 5-1 down in the deciding set to beat Diane Parry in a tiebreak this morning.
APMirra Andreeva completed an incredible comeback to beat Diane Parry[/caption]
GettyThe teenager received criticism from a commentator[/caption]
GettyAndy Murray defended Andreeva on social media[/caption]
After saving a match point to keep her Grand Slam hopes alive, Andreeva went on to win six of the next seven games, eventually taking the tiebreak 10-5 to progress to the fourth round.
Murray was watching as the teenager completed her comeback and took to X, formerly Twitter, to question the criticism directed at her during the match.
A commentator had suggested that Andreeva struggles with the mental side of her game, but ex-Wimbledon champion Murray begged to differ.
He wrote: “Andreeva down 5-1 in third. Commentator: ‘She really needs to work on mental side of her game.. she’s too hard on herself when she’s losing.’ 30 minutes later 7-6 Andreeva wins.
“Maybe the reason she turned the match round is because of her mental strength.
“Maybe she turned the match around because she is hard on herself and demands more of herself when she’s losing/playing badly? Winner.”
Andreeva, who is a huge admirer of Murray, was thrilled with the Brit’s social media post.
She said: “I didn’t really think that he would watch a match, then after he would tweet, he would comment something.
“Honestly, I will try to print it out somehow. I don’t know, I will put it in a frame. I will bring it everywhere with me. I will maybe put it on the wall so I can see it every day.”
Discussing the comments about her mentality, the teenager added: “Maybe being harsh on myself actually helped me.
“I don’t know. I just try to think positively. This harshness, let’s say, helped me with it because I am not very positive in my head usually. I don’t know.
“I just kept pushing myself. I was saying not good words to myself. I think that helped me, that pushed me.”
Andreeva is now set to face either Storm Hunter or Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round.