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‘She’s a Kid Still..’ – 16-Year-Old Russian Defended for Her Wimbledon Outburst as Swiss Tennis Legend Martina Hingis Shares Her Two Cents

Published 07/11/2023, 4:06 PM EDT

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via Imago

Mirra Andreeva became a sensation overnight by defeating Anastasia Potapova in her third-round encounter at SW19. But what caught the tennis fraternity’s and fans’ attention was her fourth-round antics against Madison Keys. The umpire’s decision to handle a penalty to the teenager angered the whole world. Andy Roddick immediately came to the teen’s defense by tweeting that she wouldn’t have thrown her racket if not for her slip. Many fans and even tennis news pages followed Roddick’s cue.

Now, Swiss tennis legend, Martina Hingis came to the teen’s defense by sharing how fierce she was when she played professional tennis.

Every word of Martina Hingis was filled with support for the Russian teenage sensation

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According to the Express UK, Hings said that it is quite common for a player to display such emotions. She said, “I did that too so it’s like when you play a lot of matches and I think she played a lot now compared to what she was doing before so you want to win, you want to play well. I heard that, I didn’t see it.”

The youngest player to win the Wimbledon Championships said, “It can happen, when you’re young you have your emotions and sometimes it’s good, sometimes bad. As long as nothing dangerous happens.” Who better to understand the emotions of a teen than a fellow teen who once claimed the Grass Slam when she was Andreeva’s age?

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The five times singles Grand Slam winner talked about the impact of the action and said, “It depends on what and how you do it, and how you throw your racket also a little bit.” She then talked about controlling emotions as a teenager. Also, if the player gets a penalty point for each time they showed emotions, some legends would probably never exist today.

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Mirra Andreeva was not the only one to smash a racket on the court

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Speaking of controlling emotions, Hingis said, “It’s part of the game, of course you’re supposed to control your emotions but at 16, come on, she’s a kid still. It can happen.” But robbing her of a point seemed a bit too far for the world. Legends and even young players smashed their rackets on the court and got away with them with warnings.

In February of this year, Alexander Bublik, in Open Sud de France, smashed three rackets when he was losing the match. But he was let go with a warning by the umpire. Even Novak Djokovic smashed his racket in the 2021 U.S. Open after he lost the first set to Daniil Medvedev. Again, he was let go with a warning for racket abuse.

via Reuters

Bublik was 26 years old, and Djokovic was 34 years old when they smashed rackets. But Andreeva was just 16 and did not smash her racket deliberately. The teenager was obviously frustrated about her losing the match, and she slipped at the exact time. Ideally, she could just hold on to her racket, but she smashed it against the grass.

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Written by:

Krishna Priya

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Vadlamani Krishna Priya is a tennis writer at Essentially Sports. Pursuing her passion for storytelling, she has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. Helped by her cousin who introduced her to the rules and regulations of the game during her childhood, Roger Federer matches became Priya's gateway to the world of tennis.
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Edited by:

Tony Thomas