Kostyuk overcomes second-set dip to beat Potapova, reach first WTA 1000 final in Madrid

Winning ugly counts just the same.

In a week full of highlight-worthy performances for Marta Kostyuk, Thursday’s semifinal win over Anastasia Potapova wasn’t one of them. But it didn’t have to be. The 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory in 1 hour and 36 minutes sends her into her first WTA 1000 final in Madrid, where she’ll face No. 9 seed Mirra Andreeva for what would be the biggest title of her career.

Madrid: Scores | Draws | Order of play

The match wrapped just before midnight inside Manolo Santana Stadium, but despite the late finish, Kostyuk looked energized as she walked off the court.

"Even in tough moments today, I really tried to enjoy this moment being in the semifinals here," Kostyuk said in her on-court interview. "And no matter how it would turn out, I really just -- in 20-30 years, I want to think about this moment and really smile about it. Don't remember the misery or being hard on myself, because at the end of the day, we all go out on court, and we do our absolute best always.

"And I did that today."

The win marks her 10th straight main-draw victory at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level, extending the best stretch of her career. Coming off a title in Rouen, she is through to back-to-back finals for the first time. The Ukrainian also improves to 3-2 against Potapova and has now won three straight in the head-to-head.

Credit to Potapova. After straight-set losses in their previous two meetings, including last year’s Mutua Madrid Open fourth round, she punched back with a dominant second set to force a decider this time around. It was the first set Kostyuk has dropped all week.

Kostyuk was in total control early. She saved two break points to hold for 3-0 lead and capitalized on Potapova's erratic start -- 21 unforced errors -- to take the first set in 35 minutes. But the momentum flipped in the second. Kostyuk hit just three winners to 17 unforced errors and won only 18% of her first-serve points, allowing a suddenly confident Potapova back into the match.

"The second set was really weird today," Kostyuk said. "I hadn't dropped a set all week, so to lose a set felt kind of weird. But I'm very proud with how I managed to keep supporting myself. I wasn't playing the way I always play today, but I felt like this was the key, and she didn't like it. The match that we had last year was entirely different.

"I think she played very different, and the conditions were in her favor a bit today because the balls were extremely heavy and they were not picking up my spin. So she stayed very far from the baseline. And yeah, I tried different things. Clearly, what I was doing in the second set didn't work, but I'm incredibly happy with the turnaround."

Just as the pendulum had swung between the first two sets, it did so again to start the decider. Kostyuk broke in the opening game and raced out to a 4-0 lead. Potapova held for 4-1 but couldn't convert any of the three break points she earned in the next game, and Kostyuk won the final two games to secure one of the biggest wins of her career.

With the victory, Kostyuk becomes the first Ukrainian to reach the Madrid final since the tournament's inception in 2009. She is the third Ukrainian to reach a Tier I/WTA 1000 final since the format began in 1990, joining Elina Svitolina and Anhelina Kalinina.

It is the 23-year-old's sixth career WTA singles final and her third on clay. She is 1-1 in clay-court finals and 2-3 overall. This marks her third final of the season; only Aryna Sabalenka, with four, has more in 2026.

One of those came in Brisbane, where Sabalenka beat Kostyuk for the title. Earlier in that tournament, Kostyuk defeated Andreeva in the quarterfinals -- their lone meeting ahead of Saturday's final.

Only two players have earned 10 or more clay-court wins at the WTA level this season: Andreeva with 12 and Kostyuk with 11, including Bille Jean King Cup play.