I couldn't believe it": The statistic that transformed Andreeva's mentality

This detail changed everything: upon discovering she ranked among the tour's most aggressive players, Andreeva decided to bet even more on her offensive instincts.

Could a WTA publication have encouraged Mirra Andreeva to change her tactical approach?

After her second-round victory in Beijing against Lin Zhu (6-2, 6-2), the young Russian stated in a press conference that she has become slightly more aggressive in her matches following a statistic revealed by the WTA on social media.

"I remember that earlier this year, I intended to be more aggressive. I recall the WTA published a statistic showing I had hit the most winners on tour. When I saw that, I was very surprised.

I wasn't known as a player who hits many winners or who is very aggressive. I told myself it was a good sign. After that, I felt I was somewhat afraid of missing my shots, of making errors.

Sometimes I tend to step back and just put the ball back in play, but that doesn't work against the best players. Now I'm making an effort to hit through every shot and it's working. Even today, the first few games were quite tight.

I told myself: 'Go for these shots. Even if you miss them, it's better to miss this way than to be passive on court.' In the end, it worked. I didn't miss much, so I think I'll keep this approach.