MIRRA ANDREEVA appeared to bite her own arm during her Australian Open third round clash with Diane Parry.
The 16-year-old has had an impressive breakthrough tournament Down Under.
Mirra Andreeva appeared to have bite marks in her arm
RexThe 16-year-old was hard on herself at times during the match[/caption]
GettyAndreeva went on to win the contest in straight sets[/caption]
Beaten in last year’s girls’ singles final, Andreeva has left her mark on the women’s event this time around.
After defeating Bernarda Pera in straight sets in round one, world No.47 Andreeva dismantled fifth seed Ons Jabeur for the loss of just two games in a 6-0, 6-2 demolition.
She looked to back up her incredible Jabeur win against world No.72 Diane Parry.
The Frenchwoman won the first set 6-1 against her precocious opponent on Court 3.
Andreeva came roaring back, however, levelling the contest by winning the second set 6-1.
After falling an early break down in the decider, the Russian furiously berated herself.
And during the third set, Andreeva appeared to have bite marks on her own arm.
She went on to fall 5-1 down and looked on the brink of exiting the tournament.
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But Andreeva showed off her steely resolve, somehow clawing her way back from the brink to win the match 10-5 in a deciding tiebreak.
The rising star is a huge fan of Andy Murray, having fawned over him in an interview last year.
Watching her latest match, the Brit leapt to her defence when a commentator questioned her mentality as she trailed in the third set.
Murray, who lost in round one to Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 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.”
When told about Murray’s tweet in her post-match press conference, Andreeva gushed: “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.”
On her mentality, she 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 will be back in action tomorrow when she takes on former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova on John Cain Arena.
GettyAndreeva talked about her mentality after the match[/caption]