French Open: Teen Mirra Andreeva sets sights on 25 Grand Slams

Sixteenyearold qualifier Mirra Andreeva became the youngest player since 2005 to reach the French Open third round on Thursday and immediately set her sights on winning a recordshattering 25 Grand Slam titlesAndreeva ranked at 143 in the world and making her Grand Slam debut eased to a 61 62 win over Diane Parry of FranceThe Francebased Russian is the youngest player to make the last 32 since a 15yearold Sesil Karatantcheva made the 2005 quarterfinalsShe is also just the seventh player under the age of 17 to make the third round in Paris in 30 years a group that includes the likes of serial Slam champions Serena Williams and Martina HingisNovak DjokovicldquoMy dream I know that Djokovic did 22 Grand Slams so I want to go until 25 if it will be possiblerdquo said Andreeva who played the junior tournament in Paris last yearHowever should she reach that mark and surpass the majors collections of Djokovic and Rafael Nadal 22 Serena Williams 23 and alltime leader Margaret Court 24 she promised to stay groundedldquoIf I will be a little bit like a diva my coach will say something to me for sure because he doesnrsquot like those peoplerdquo said AndreevaAlso Read French Open Cameron Norrie calls for video replays after row post Lucas Pouille winlsquoI will just be myselfrsquoldquoSo Irsquom sure I will get some words from him I will just be me I will just be myself and Irsquom sure if I will just do my thing I will just letrsquos say stay on the groundrdquoIt has been a breakout tournament and year for the teenager She has won five matches at Roland Garros without dropping a set while her record for 2023 stands at 22 wins and just two losses Six of those wins have come against top100 playersThe French Open is only her third tourlevel main draw appearance On the eve of Roland Garros she went all the way to the last 16 in Madrid beginning the event when she was still 15Andreeva recalls rubbing shoulders with Djokovic deep in the bowels of Court Suzanne Lenglen last year ldquoHe was going to the locker room and he was singing a songrdquoDjokovic she admits jostles with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for her affections ldquoRoger he was always my idol my No 1 but after Roland Garros 2022 when Rafa won it in my head everything turned Now Rafa and Roger theyrsquore in the first place but I donrsquot want to offend Novak So letrsquos say theyrsquore three in first placerdquoDjokovic advancesMeanwhile Novak Djokovic brushed aside the furore surrounding his comments about clashes in Kosovo by easing into the third round on Wednesday with a straightsets win over Marton FucsovicsDjokovic who is chasing a menrsquos record 23rd Grand Slam singles title at Roland Garros came through a marathon first set against Hungarian Fucsovics before prevailing 76 72 60 63 in the night session on Court Philippe ChatrierThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever