Mirra Andreeva admitted even she wasn't sure how she managed to very dominantly win all of her Adelaide matches despite making slow starts.
On Saturday, the third-seeded Russian fell 0-3 behind to Victoria Mboko before storming back to win the final with a 6-3 6-1 scoreline.
In the Adelaide semifinal, Diana Shnaider opened a 3-0 lead against Andreeva, but the No. 3 seed still easily won 6-3 6-2. A round earlier, the 18-year-old Russian trailed 0-2 to Marie Bouzkova before completing a 6-3 6-1 win.
In total, the top-ranked Russian WTA player dropped only a total of 15 games.
After becoming a champion in Adelaide, Andreeva was asked how she managed to turn around the situation against Mboko so quickly and win 12 of the last 13 games.
Andreeva: I don't know what's happening with this tournament
"Yeah, I don't know what's happening with this tournament, but it's like I start pretty slow here. Then I kind of tend to take the situation in my hands, and just start playing more aggressive and start going for my shots more," the Russian said.
"But I did have opportunities in the beginning to break her right away. I could also take my serve, and it would have been 2-0 to me already. But also it's a game. When I had a break point on her serve she hit an ace. Then she hit like a couple of winners as well. It just went her way, and there's nothing I can do about that.
"Yeah, after she broke me, then she served well. So it's, basically she just needed one break, and now it's 3-0. So I just told myself to keep going, and stick to the plan, and after all it worked."
For Andreeva, winning Adelaide was certainly a major confidence booster ahead of the Australian Open. After astonishingly winning back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells last spring, the 18-year-old struggled with the increased pressure and expectations. But now, her title drought is officially over.
Andreeva now heads to the Australian Open, where she is the No. 8 seed and plays against Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic in the first round.
Andreeva reached back-to-back Australian Open round-of-16 in her first two appearances at Melbourne Park.
