Andreeva after beating Swiatek: "I was very nervous before the match".

Mirra Andreeva put in one of the finest performances of her young career to date. The 17-year-old Russian, ranked 14th in the world, clearly dominated Iga Swiatek, 2nd in the WTA rankings, in the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 Dubai (6-3, 6-3).

She thus qualifies for the semi-finals of a tournament in this category for the very first time in her young career.

Moments after her success, Andreeva shared her first impressions of the court.

"Honestly, I was very nervous before the match. We played each other last year in Cincinnati, and it was a very intense encounter.

I told myself that I'd played well that day, and that I had to continue to be aggressive. It wasn't easy with the stress, but the crowd cheered me on, so thank you all for supporting me today, it means a lot to me.

Before the second set, my coach (Conchita Martinez) repeated everything I already knew, i.e. that I didn't need to change tactics.

I'd say that for me, it's more difficult to maintain the same pace throughout the match than to change anything in my game.

It's my first WTA 1000 semi-final and I'm very happy with the result. Last year, I lost in the first round here, so I'm happy to be back in Dubai.

I hope to be here a bit longer this week," said Andreeva, who will face either Elena Rybakina or Sofia Kenin for a place in the final.