How Erika Andreeva found her way back to tennis while cheering on Mirra's rise
LONDON -- Two weeks ago at Roland Garros, as Mirra Andreeva celebrated the biggest victory of her career, many of the people who helped her reach that moment were there to witness it. Family members, coaches and members of her inner circle watched the 19-year-old win her first Grand Slam title.
Her mother, Raisa, watched from the stands alongside longtime coach Conchita Martínez. Missing from the celebration was older sister Erika, who followed the match while traveling to Zagreb, Croatia, for an ITF W100 event.
After defeating Ma Ye-Xin 6-0, 6-3 in the first round of Wimbledon qualifying on Tuesday, Erika said that while it felt "strange" to be so far away from one of the most significant moments of her little sister's career, she wasn't sure if her presence would have helped.
"Tennis players have their own superstitions," she said. "So if she starts with the same amount of people, like with my mum and coach, then it's better not to change anything."
In any case, Erika -- still only 21 years old herself -- has had to focus on rebuilding her own career. Back in 2024, she joined Mirra in the Top 100, and peaked at No. 65 in October that year. But after losing in the first round of 2025 Wimbledon qualifying to Selena Janicijevic -- her ninth consecutive loss -- Erika disappeared for the next four months.
"I wasn't mentally in the right place," she explained. "I was devastated by [the Wimbledon loss]. At that point, I didn't enjoy to play. I didn't feel myself on court at all. [I didn't] know what to do. Only to break, and to see if I will want to play again or not. First month I didn't play, I didn't do anything at all."
Like Mirra, Erika was a top junior -- she reached the Roland Garros girls' final in 2021 -- but while Mirra rose smoothly to the top of the game, Erika struggled. She felt relieved when matches were over, not joyful -- but that didn't stop the negative emotions that followed.
"I [felt] like I'm not good enough, I'm not doing well enough how I'm supposed to do," she said. "[I] put myself below the bottom that I'm s--- as a player, s--- as a person, I don't deserve anything."
Erika admits that Mirra's success added to the pressure she felt. But when asked directly about her younger sister, her face lights up for the first time during the interview.
"I feel really proud of her," Erika said. "Because I know her own challenges, maybe something you don't see on the screen. I know what she deals with. I know her since a very young age. She always was struggling with the moments when something will not go her way, to stay in the game, to stay calm, to not let everything down.
"I remember one of the [Roland Garros] matches about which I was proud the most. It was against [Marina] Bassols Ribera [in the second round, the only player who stretched Mirra to three sets in Paris]. I wouldn't say that it was the best match for her tennis-wise, but I just was proud that she managed without feeling her best. She kept going even with the game she didn't like, and she managed to win."
Erika says there was no single moment during her hiatus when her love for tennis suddenly returned. Instead, she spent time at home in the south of France with her grandparents, went hiking and paddleboarding and enjoyed "lots of activities which I didn't allow myself to do" while playing.
She chose not to freeze her ranking, unwilling to stay away for the six months required to qualify for that protection. Instead, she accepted the long road back and began working her way through the rankings again.
Returning to action in October 2025, Erika won the second tournament she entered, an ITF W75 in Hamburg. Her ranking was down to No. 362 in February this year, but she's worked her way back to No. 238 this week. More importantly, the self-recriminations and feelings of inadequacy have gone.
"For now, I feel myself well on the court and outside the court," she said. "I hope that results will catch up maybe soon."
Despite their increasingly separate careers, the sisters remain close. Their schedules allowed for only three days together after Mirra's Roland Garros victory, but they spent part of that time celebrating with a shopping trip. According to Erika, their mother, Raisa, quickly vetoed a Louis Vuitton bag after seeing the price tag, so the sisters settled on a pair of Jimmy Choo heels instead.
The shoes are Mirra's, but does Erika share a shoe size -- and can she borrow them? She grins.
"The more expensive the shoes, the more the same size," she said.