Mirra Andreeva won't play this way at the Toray Pan Pacific Open but it isn't for the want of trying as the 17-year-old completes part of her final season not being able to play a full schedule.
Something which blighted Coco Gauff early in her career, it was brought in during 1994 to prevent players from aged 14-17 from playing a full schedule. 16 year olds can only play 12 events. She turned 17 in April which means she could play marginally more.
But still it was only sat at 16 events until they turn 18. As a result in similar vein to those with a protected ranking, it is more about picking and choosing and has also led to her not being able to qualify for such tournaments as the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
With the youngster only being able to play a small amount of events, it diminishes her chances to accrue points and puts more a finite window on whether or not she can play. She lost to Daria Kasatkina in the final of Ningbo Open this past weeekend and funnily called her a b*** on her social media for winning the match.
Known to be close friends off the oche, she often appears in her vlog series What the Vlog and also consoled her after losing the match. Some saw it as a sign of her being still only 17. So perhaps the age eligibility rulings are actually fit for purpose amid criticism which has been levied surrounding it with uphill momentum for players like Andreeva who burst on the scene when they were young derailed
But also it worked for Coco Gauff who went on to become a Grand Slam champion and also played under such a rule so with safeguarding and protection with Andreeva likely still travelling with a close knit support team including her family it is perhaps the right call.
