Former world number one Renee Stubbs commented on Mirra Andreeva`s defeat to Amanda Anisimova in the third round of the Miami tournament (6/7(5), 6/2, 3/6).
“There is no doubt that she hit a wall in this match. I know that she wasn`t feeling well before it, so she probably wasn`t in the best condition when she came onto the court. Hence her behavior. Calling a physio at 2/1 in the first set (1/2) is extremely unusual.
But I give her credit as a 17-year-old: she held on, although she could have given up after losing the first set. It seemed that she would lose. Then in the third set, Anisimova turned the tide and started hitting winners at will.
But Andreeva definitely showed her age by hitting a wall. Mentally, she behaved like Mirra Andreeva from two years ago. Mom left the box, Conchi [Martinez] completely lost control of herself. She was kind of showing: `To hell with you all, I hate everything, I don`t want to be here`.
At 3/1, 40:40 in the decisive set, Anisimova took a medical timeout due to a blister on her finger on her opponent`s serve. Andreeva said to the judge: `Of course, she has the right. And, of course, she will do it now. We all know why.` After the match, the American demonstrated the blister on video, also showing the middle finger.
“If someone followed Anisimova on social media, they would have seen the blister on her finger. It was a very serious blister, just terrible. I don’t know if any of you have played tennis, especially at a professional level, but such a blister on your finger is a real torture if you try to hit the ball.
She asked for a doctor at the next changeover (he came during the game in the end). You need to warn the physio in advance, because they are in the locker room, not by the court. If it`s not a final, physios don`t sit by the court, because there aren`t that many of them and during matches they have a lot of work in the locker rooms.
Therefore, Amanda asked the judge to call the physio at the next changeover so as not to wait. Of course, she was leading 3/1 in the third set and did not want to lose her rhythm. I give her credit: she was losing with a game point and gave away the point – the score became `deuce`; and immediately after the shot, she realized that she could no longer hit the ball normally, and the game was very important for her.
According to the rules, if the injury is acute – for example, a player sprained an ankle or fell and broke a finger – the physio comes to the court to assess the condition. And now look at this finger – the injury is acute. The player simply cannot hit the ball without severe pain.
Anisimova played three more points after calling the doctor. She understood that there could be a fight at `advantage`-`deuce`. And the blister was getting worse, she could not hit the ball and asked for a doctor. This is allowed by the rules!” Stubbs said on her podcast.
Marcus Blakely