Former Wimbledon champion Martina Hingis has leapt to the defence of teen sensation Mirra Andreeva after she was criticised for throwing her racket during her round of 16 defeat to Madison Keys.
The 16-year-old’s dream run at SW19 came to an end when she was beaten in three sets by the American 25th seed, and at one point in the tournament she smashed her racket against the grass after losing her cool.
But Hingis insisted it was just a matter of growing up and a natural part of the game to release frustration.
“I did that too so it’s like when you play a lot of matches and I think she played a lot now compared to what she was doing before so you want to win, you want to play well. I heard that, I didn’t see it,” she said.
“It can happen, when you’re young you have your emotions and sometimes it’s good, sometimes bad. As long as nothing dangerous happens. It depends on what and how you do it, and how you throw your racket also a little bit. It’s part of the game, of course you’re supposed to control your emotions but at 16, come on, she’s a kid still. It can happen.”
