Andreeva grits through tough Fernandez test to make Madrid semis

Mirra Andreeva keeps building on her early success at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Three years ago, she caught the tennis world's attention with a breakout run to the fourth round in the week she turned 16. She backed that up with back-to-back quarterfinal showings in 2024 and 2025. And now, on her last day as an 18-year-old, the No. 9 seed is into her first semifinal after defeating No. 24 seed Leylah Fernandez 7-6(1), 6-3, saving three set points in the first set.

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Fernandez had been Andreeva's first career tour-level win back at the start of that 2023 run, and repeating that result improved Andreeva's record against the Canadian to 2-1. The teenager advances to her fourth semifinal at WTA 1000 level or above, and first since winning Indian Wells 2025. She also moves into her fourth semifinal of 2026 so far, and third in as many tournaments on clay.

Following her fourth-round win over Anna Bondar the previous day, Andreeva had been so drained that she had not done an on-court interview. In contrast, after defeating Fernandez she was in a bubbly mood as she looked forward to her 19th birthday on Wednesday.

"I'm so happy I cannot take the smile away from my face," she said. "I'm extremely happy about the way I played and the result. It wouldn't be a perfect birthday if I would lose today. I really didn't want that to happen, and I was trying to give everything I had to be in a good mood tomorrow."

Andreeva will next face either No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka -- her conqueror in Madrid in both 2023 and 2024 -- or No. 30 seed Hailey Baptiste, whom she defeated in straight sets in their only previous meeting at Wimbledon last year.

Grit at the heart of Andreeva's victory

As Andreeva nearly squandered a 5-1 third-set lead against Bondar on Monday, her negative emotions spilled out. After losing five straight games to trail 6-5, she told her team at the changeover: "I'm not a champion, I will lose."

Her outburst had the opposite effect: she held to love, then edged the tiebreak for a clutch win. Twenty-four hours later, Andreeva brought the same spirit into her tie with Fernandez -- particularly in a first set which she trailed almost all the way.

Fernandez was bidding to reach her first semifinal at WTA 1000 level or above since the 2021 US Open, and she raced out of the blocks with a clear strategy. Using short angles and drive volleys to superb effect, she raced into a 4-1 lead.

Andreeva managed to get the set back on serve, but an extended delay at 4-3 to Fernandez as a member of the audience required medical attention halted her momentum. On resumption, Fernandez promptly fired three consecutive winners to hold two points for a 5-3 lead. Superb serving enabled Andreeva to escape with the hold for 4-4, though.

At 5-5, Fernandez came up with a brave hold from 0-40 down, saving four break points -- three with clean winners -- and surged to three set points in Andreeva's subsequent service game. Once again, Andreeva steadied her game, forcing Fernandez errors with aggressive play to send the set to a tiebreak. Here, Andreeva played her cleanest tennis of the match so far, racing to set point with a return winner, a finely angled pass and a canny lob.

Andreeva wasn't home and dry by any means -- the second set opened with four straight service breaks -- but as the finishing line drew nearer, her tennis became more free-flowing and creative. An emphatic backhand winner garnered her a break for 5-3, and another one sealed her second match point a game later.

Casting her mind back to her self-recriminations against Bondar, Andreeva said that vocalizing those thoughts had lit a fire in her.

"Obviously I wanted to prove myself wrong," she said. "I kind of did yesterday, but for some reason yesterday I was, even after I won, I was pretty negative to myself that I got to that situation."

Against Fernandez, she was more successful at handling the scoreboard fluctuations before it got to that point.

"Today I just tried to turn things around and not let that happen again," she said. "I felt like I did a better job today. Still, obviously at some points I was pretty emotional as well. But I do feel like it's a tennis match, and sometimes obviously something can happen. The most important is how you handle it, and how you reset for the next point. I feel like today it was much better than yesterday."