It was one of those runs that’s just hard to wrap your head around.

Over the course of one magical month last year, Mirra Andreeva — then 17 — won 12 straight matches to take back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells, catapulting her to No. 6 in the PIF WTA Rankings and establishing her as a legitimate star on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.

She played solid tennis the rest of the year — including runs to the French Open and Wimbledon quarterfinals — but did fall back down to Earth, going 22-13 after Indian Wells and not winning another title. She also failed to qualify for the WTA Finals after looking like a shoo-in earlier in the year. 

It was unreasonable to expect Andreeva to continue winning at that pace for the entire season, a reality that was understandably hard for her to grapple with. 

But a year older and year wiser, she’s taken that lesson to heart, and it’s helped her shift her mindset. Getting to the top, and staying there, is a process, and that process doesn’t happen overnight — or over the course of one year.

“Those wins gave me a lot of confidence to go through the season,” she said after her 6-3, 6-1 win over Marie Bouzkova in Adelaide, “but at the same time I felt like I was putting pressure on myself. I was expecting myself to play at the same level throughout the whole year, which I now understand was not really possible.

“We’re human, so it’s OK that sometimes something doesn’t work or go your way. Last year it was all new to me, so I was still learning how to accept that and move on from that. But it was a very good experience for me to go through that — to win, but also not to have any titles after that. It was a good learning experience.”

In the offseason, a rare moment to recharge and reset, Andreeva took the opportunity to talk to her psychologist about the pressure she faced last year, and how to balance that with the desire to continue pushing. She also discussed this delicate balance with her coach, Conchita Martinez, who has valuable perspective not only as a former Coach of the Year, but also an 18-year WTA Tour pro and Wimbledon champion.

Andreeva, now No. 8, will face an uphill battle rankings-wise in February and March, with so many points to defend in Dubai and Indian Wells, but she’s not too concerned about that. The goal is to take it one match at a time, cancelling out the noise and just focusing on her game.

“I’m just going to take it day by day, and just practice and improve,” she said. “Do whatever I can to be a better player and a better person. I like the work that we put in with Conchita — trying to maintain my level by being aggressive, going for my shots, not being afraid to miss.

“Being smart and making the right decisions. And tonight [against Bouzkova] I saw those bits of pieces that we were trying to work on, and that made me very happy. I’m so full of energy right now. This match gave me a lot of confidence.”

Andreeva was in total control from start to finish against Bouzkova, converting five of seven break points, winning over 75 percent of her first-serve points and dropping just four games in a match that lasted just over an hour.

Into the quarterfinals, where she’ll play either Maya Joint or Ajla Tomljanovic, she’s now 3-1 on the season after reaching the quarterfinals in Brisbane last week. 

There will be plenty of eyes on Andreeva next week at the Australian Open, where she’s made the fourth round each of the past two years and will be expected to make a run for the title.

Ahead of the year’s first Slam, she’s focused on trusting her game and the process.

“I just have to keep believing in myself,” said Andreeva. “I just have to stick to that mindset, because I know when I do the right things on the court and off, it’s just a matter of time until the right things start to happen. That’s what Conchita tells me all the time, and I feel relieved when I hear those words.

“Conchita said it’s going to happen sooner or later, and I choose to believe what she says.”