Maria Timofeeva, known to all as Masha, was born in Moscow in 2003, learned tennis at the famous tennis school Spartak and In 2017 she won the prestigious under 14 tournament L'Petit As, and from then was on a trajectory to become a professional.

In the summer of 2023 her ranking shot from 250 to 120 after winning Budapest as a lucky loser, and then this past January she entered the 2024 Australian Open qualies ranked 170 in the world, and then proceeded to win 6 matches, including wins over Cornet, Wozniacki, and Haddad-Maia to reach the round of 16. She left Australia ranked 100.

We talked about what it was like to be a Russian player on tour, and what her journey has been like.

It was fascinating to talk to a young woman with such a unique story.

Recorded 2.29 Released 3.2

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