Mirra Andreeva doesn’t agree at all that Indian Wells’ courts are similar to the ones at the French Open but also isn’t denying Novak Djokovic’s claim that the ball bounces high in the desert.
After years of hearing that their hard-court was one of the slowest on the Tour, the Indian Wells organizers made a change and started using the same court used at the Miami Open and the US Open.
Djokovic, who won titles in the desert and is one of the two players with a three-peat at the tournament, didn’t make an impressive debut on the new courts after suffering a shock three-set defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp in his opener. Later, the former world No. 1 described the court as a high-bouncing clay court.
On the other side, Andreeva is off to a great start after registering back-to-back straight-set wins over Varvara Gracheva and Clara Tauson to set up an Indian Wells round-of-showdown versus Elena Rybakina.
“I think that I felt that during Roland Garros I was feeling pretty confident during that tournament, and now, as well. Yeah, it feels great to win a lot of matches in a row. I cannot complain about that. I have been playing good recently,” the 17-year-old said.
Andreeva asked directly if the Indian Wells court feels the same as the French Open court
“No (smiling). Not really,” she responded.
Then, she was told about Djokovic’s statement.
“Well, I would say here all the courts are, yeah, they have a high bounce and it’s kind of, if you play fast, the bounce is fast; if you play high, the bounce is high. The court is a bit interesting, but, you know, I find it very comfortable and I like playing here,” Andreeva explained.
After becoming a WTA 1000 champion in Dubai in her last tournament played, the Russian – who is on an eight-match winning streak and also beat Rybakina en route to winning Dubai – is definitely looking like a contender for the Indian Wells title.
