Television cameras caught Mirra Andreeva reading a notebook on her opponents as he secured her place in the Indian Wells final.
The 17-year-old beat reigning champion Iga Swiatek 7-6 [7-1] 1-6 6-3 to become the youngest finalist since Kim Clijsters in 2001.
Andreeva will face world no.1 Aryna Sabalenka for the title on Sunday, and she may well have already done her homework on the Belarusian.
During a break in her semi-final triumph over Swiatek on Friday, the teenager was spotted reading a notebook.
Cameras zoomed in and revealed the names of her opponents that she had beaten en route to the final four at Indian Wells.
There were pages of notes written on Elina Svitolina, Elena Rybakina, Clara Tauson and Varvara Gracheva, as well as Swiatek.
Andreeva could already have a section dedicated to Sabalenka ahead of the final, which will come after a deserved win.
She fought back from a one-sided second set to control the third and beat Swiatek to reach back-to-back WTA 1000 finals.
The teenager won the Dubai Tennis Championships earlier in March to become the youngest ever WTA 1000 champion.
When speaking after her semi-final win she poked fun at her coach Conchita Martinez, who is a two-time runner-up at Indian Wells.
“I know that my coach lost in the finals, so I’m going to try and do better than her,” she said.
“I’m going to try my best and we will see how it will go but yeah of course, she has a lot of experience and hopefully she’s going to give me some advice and share a little bit with me.
“I hope that she’s not going to keep it to herself because I think I need it more!”
Andreeva has faced Sabalenka on five occasions before, but won only once.
Her opponent hasn’t dropped a single set en route to the final and will play as the favourite for glory.
Sabalenka has beaten McCartney Kessler, Lucia Bronzetti, Sonay Kartal, Liudmila Samsonova and Madison Keys.
The 26-year-old finished runner-up to Rybakina at Indian Wells in 2023 but now has the chance to win her 19th singles title.
However, Andreeva could certainly pull off an upset and continue her stunning rise in tennis with victory at the iconic Tennis Garden.
