Mirra Andreeva left tennis fans delighted by posting a selfie with an unsuspecting Andy Murray at the French Open. The 17-year-old made it to the semi-finals at Roland Garros but was beaten by Jasmine Paolini, who went on to finish as the runner-up with Iga Swiatek winning the title.
Andreeva is known to be a huge fan of Murray, having admitted that she was starstruck when she met him during her breakthrough at the Madrid Open. Last year, she branded the Scot her ‘good luck charm’ as she reached the third round of the French Open after Murray wished her well in a text message.
After bowing out in the semi-finals of this year’s tournament, Andreeva took to Instagram to share a series of images from her time in Paris. One of them showed Andreeva taking a selfie while Murray was chatting to a group of people in the background, prompting fans to react with delight.
@drivevolleys shared Andreeva’s post to X, formerly Twitter, alongside the caption: “Lmaooooo this pic is sending me. Mirra Andreeva officially the leader of Murraynation.” @coronel_rodolfo added: “She’s just like us. The new people’s princess if you ask me!”
@riascosbahias posted a tongue-in-cheek reply, joking: “Poor Andy, dealing with a crazy stalker. Should get a restraining order.” @julianhischier said: “She’s so real and iconic,” while @0613honeyfm added: “She is a Murray fan first and that’s something I respect.”
Andreeva revealed after losing in the French Open semi-finals that she finally plucked up the courage to ask Murray for a picture when she bumped into him at Roland Garros. She admitted that she was initially too nervous to approach him before her coach urged her to get it over and done with.
When asked if it was better to have reached the semi-finals or to have taken a photo with Murray, Andreeva replied: “Both are good. It was a nice moment in the beginning of the tournament because I had a gift. I had, like, retro camera. I was, like, well, I have to do a lot of photos.
“I made a list with who I want to take a picture. Of course, Andy, he was first on the list because, I mean, we had a few interactions, but I don’t even have a photo with him. I was like: ‘Well, we need to fix that’. I saw him few times before, but he was warming up, he was eating. So I was like: ‘Well, next time’.
“Then on that day I saw him just talking to his team. I was like: ‘Well, he’s busy, no, no, no’. My coach was like: ‘No, you go, you do it, and after we forget about it’. So she kind of pushed me to him. Well, finally, I had a picture with him.”