Madrid Open: What Mirra Andreeva and Marta Kostyuk had to say ahead of final
Mirra Andreeva is the bookmakers’ favourite to win the Madrid Open final, but the teenager has played down her ranking status ahead of her match against Marta Kostyuk.
Aged just 19, Andreeva secured her place in the final with a 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) win over 30th seed Hailey Baptiste while Kostyuk overcame lucky loser Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 to reach the showpiece match.
For Andreeva, it will be a third WTA 1000 final as she won titles at the Dubai Tennis Championships and Indian Wells Open in 2025 while Kostyuk will be playing in her maiden final at this level.
There is a big difference in the pair’s official ranking ahead of the match as the teenager sits at No 8 with a career-high of five, while Kostyuk is at No 23 with a best of 16th.
Andreeva became the favourite when world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka lost in the quarter-final, but when asked about it, she replied: “I haven’t thought about it until you just told me that (laughing). Honestly, I don’t know.
“I guess I would just say that every player that is playing in the semi-final and every player that advances further in the tournament obviously is playing great and is having a great run.
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“So, for me, I just told myself that it wouldn’t matter who I would play against, I would just try to make my opponent’s life very complicated if she wants to beat me. If she beats me, then, okay, I will just try to be proud and shake her hand and say, ‘Okay, good job, you earned the win, and there’s nothing else I can do.’
“But obviously, if she beats me, then, you know, she’s going to have to really work for it. And that’s what kind of the mindset I had coming into this match, and I will try to have the same mindset when I will be playing the final.”
She later added: “No, I don’t consider myself the favourite for the match because I know that whoever gets to the final is a tough opponent. I’ve learned not to care about the rankings of my opponent or, you know, the last name of my opponent as well.
“I’m just going to try to go on court and do the things that I have to do to really focus on the game plan that we create with [my coach] Conchita [Martinez], and that’s the only thing I can control.
The pair have met only once before on the WTA Tour and that was at the start of the 2026 season when the Ukrainian won 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in the quarter-final in Brisbane.
“I think it’s an entirely different court and everything. We had really difficult match,” Kostyuk said.
“But I’m excited for the final, because it’s a final, at the end of the day. She’s very solid player, very hard hitter, more like she has very big serve. So, you know, I’m excited for that. I don’t know, it’s really different conditions.”
