Mirra Andreeva is relishing her meteoric rise after winning the Indian Wells title with a comeback win over world number one, Aryna Sabalenka. 

Andreeva emerged a 2-6 6-4 6-3 victor over Sabalenka on Sunday, with her latest title triumph seeing the 17-year-old surge into the top 10 of the WTA rankings. 

Having defeated Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, Andreeva became the youngest player in the last 40 years to defeat the world number one and two in a single WTA event.

Indeed, the only younger player to achieve that feat in a WTA-1000/Tier One or grand slam was Tracy Austin, who did so on her way to lifting the US Open title back in 1979. 

She is the third-youngest Indian Wells champion, after Martina Hingis in 1998 and Serena Williams in 1999, but she said she was taking her new-found stardom well in her stride. 

"Maybe it's happening fast, but I like it," Andreeva said after ensuring she will climb to a career-high sixth in the world on Monday. "If it's happening fast, I take it."

And Andreeva's route to glory against Sabalenka was far from straightforward, having lost the opening set, though she rallied to stun the Belarusian. 

In the last 40 years, Andreeva is the third-youngest player to defeat the world number one in a WTA final from a set down - older only than Jennifer Capriati (vs Monica Seles, San Diego 1991) and Gabriela Sabatini (vs Steffi Graf, Boca Raton 1988).

3 - Since 1989, Mirra Andreeva is the third-youngest player to win the Women's Singles title in Indian Wells, older only than Martina Hingis (1998) and Serena Williams (1999). Star.#TennisParadise | @BNPPARIBASOPEN @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/od3mAII9Ek

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 16, 2025

Her triumph at Indian Wells followed her victory at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she became the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 event at 17 years and 299 days. 

But Andreeva was quick to point to her coaching line-up, backed by 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, as key to her recent success. 

Martinez teamed up with the talented teenager shortly after her first-round exit to Katie Volynets at Indian Wells last year. 

"Since the beginning of our work relationship, I already felt like we had a great connection," Andreeva said this week. "I felt very comfortable around her.

"I feel like we're both very energetic, and I feel like we both know how to be energetic, but when we need to, we also calm down and take things seriously."

Andreeva was not taking much time to savour her victory, with a chance to add a third WTA 1000 title to her resume before her 18th birthday in April.

Her next event will be at the Miami Open, where she was placed in the third quarter alongside the likes of Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro and Emma Raducanu. 

Andreeva is seeded 11th for the tournament and will face off against either Veronika Kudermetova or Xinyu Wang in her first match of the competition. 

"I think that we're going to celebrate in the airport or on the plane because tomorrow morning we're going to fly to Miami," added Andreeva.