Andreeva saves three set points, holds off Baptiste to make Madrid final

A day after celebrating her 19th birthday, ninth-seeded Mirra Andreeva delivered an impressive performance to defeat 30th-seeded Hailey Baptiste in straight sets and advance to the final of the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday. With the result, Andreeva becomes the first teenager to reach three WTA 1000 finals since the format’s introduction in 2009. She will face either 26th-seeded Marta Kostyuk or Anastasia Potapova in the final.

The win was her 12th victory on clay this year, the most by any player on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz in 2026. It was also her 26th win of the season and guarantees she will climb back to No. 7 in the PIF WTA Rankings next week, regardless of the result in the final.

Andreeva's serve key to first-set dominance

The 19-year-old used her serve to tremendous effect on Thursday. She won 20 of 22 points on her serve across five service games in the first set — at one point winning 15 straight points on serve. The numbers were staggering. She landed 77% of her first serves and won 100% of those points. In contrast, Baptiste made just 53% of her first serves and won 61% of those points. A single break of serve was enough for Andreeva to take the set 6-4.

Baptiste fights back from match point down

The second set followed similar lines. Andreeva broke in the fifth game and continued to dominate on serve, dropping just four points to lead 5-3.

Down 5-3, Baptiste found herself facing match point in the ninth game. She saved it and held for 5-4 but still needed a way to break Andreeva’s serve. She got her chance with some help from her opponent: Andreeva missed an easy overhead at 30-15 and went on to lose her serve, allowing Baptiste to level the set at 5-5.

Andreeva turns it around from set points down

Playing with renewed confidence, Baptiste jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second set tiebreak. Although Andreeva fought back to 4-4, Baptiste played aggressively to move ahead 6-4 and earn two set points.

This time, it was Andreeva’s turn to flip the script. She saved both set points, including one with a lob that landed just inside the baseline, and another at 6-7 with an ace.

Andreeva earned a second match point, only to see Baptiste save it with an ace. A backhand winner down the line gave Andreeva a third match point, and this time she converted, closing out a 6-4, 7-6 victory in 1 hour, 39 minutes.

"I feel so much adrenaline inside. I feel like I'm still nervous. I'm so happy that I won and I was able to save all those set points. I was very happy with the way I was able to serve. I cannot find a lot of words to describe how I am feeling right now," Andreeva said after the win, her second in as many meetings over her American rival.

Andreeva said she will not watch the second semifinal between Kostyuk and Potapova and will leave the scouting to her coach, Conchita Martinez. However, she has played both potential opponents as recently as this year. She trails 1-0 head-to-head against Kostyuk and has won three of four WTA-level meetings against Potapova.