Exhibition event has bizarre ending as Mirra Andreeva faces male player after Marta Kostyuk pulls out
Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva faced male player Yanis Ghazouani Durand in the championship match after her initial opponent declined to compete in a bizarre ending to the Negometal Open final in France.
Andreeva was supposed to face Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the championship match.
However, because of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Kostyuk, 21, declined to participate in the match.
“Due to reasons beyond our will and given the geopolitical context in Ukraine, Marta Kostyuk will not be able to compete in the final of the 6th edition of Negometal Open,” a statement from the organisers read.
“We’ve done our best to activate our network of professional players, but the time is unfortunately too short to find a replacement. So we took the decision to compete our Peageois Yanis Ghazouani Durand against the young prodigy Mirra Andreeva. Thank you for your understanding.”
Kostyuk offered no comment when she was contacted by Italian publication UbiTennis.
“I prefer not to comment on this matter. Thank you for understanding,’ she said, according to Ubitennis.
Why Kostyuk didn’t follow the convention and play against Andreeva without shaking hands is unknown at this time but there is growing frustration from Ukranian athletes over Russian athletes’ continued involvement in competitions.
Andreeva reached the final of the girls’ singles at the Australian Open in January 2023, finally losing in three sets to doubles partner Alina Korneeva.
Andreeva gained a wildcard into the main draw of the WTA 1000 Madrid Open at the age of 15 and ranked as the world No 194. She won her maiden WTA Tour match against Leylah Fernandez. With her victory, she became the third-youngest player in WTA 1000 history to win a main-draw match, after only Coco Gauff and CiCi Bellis. Furthermore, Andreeva was only the second 15-year-old in WTA 1000 history to defeat a top-50 opponent, with Bellis being the first in 2015. She then overcame 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia to go to the third round, becoming the fifth youngest player in the 21st century to defeat a top-20 opponent before the age of 16.
Andreeva, ranked 143rd in the world, made her Grand Slam debut at the French Open, qualifying for the main draw and then defeating Alison Riske-Amritraj in the first round to win her first match at a Major. She then overcame wildcard Diane Parry to go to the third round of a Major for the first time. As a consequence, she became the youngest player to reach this level at Roland Garros since 15-year-old Sesil Karatancheva in 2005, and the sixth player in the last 30 years to do it before turning 17.
After qualifying, Andreeva made her main-draw debut at Wimbledon. She advanced to the third round, when she defeated Wang Xiyu and tenth seed Barbora Krejková by retirement for her biggest career triumph.
She then overcame 22nd seed and fellow Russian Anastasia Potapova to advance to the fourth round, becoming the All England Club’s youngest player to do so since Coco Gauff in 2019.
She climbed into the top 70 in the rankings after Wimbledon. Andreeva won her first-round match in the US Open before losing in the second round to eventual champion Coco Gauff. On September 11, 2023, she set a new career high of No 57. As a qualifier, she advanced to the third round of the China Open and got into the top 50 of the WTA Rankings for the first time.
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