Mirra Andreeva’s chance to make a statement before Roland Garros comes at an unusual Madrid Open tournament
Mirra Andreeva has moved into the position of favourite to win the Madrid Open. The top eight seeds — Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, Elina Svitolina and Jasmine Paolini — have all been knocked out.
Photo by Wang He/Getty Images Mirra Andreeva has moved into the position of favourite to win the Madrid Open. The top eight seeds — Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, Elina Svitolina and Jasmine Paolini — have all been knocked out. This leaves Andreeva as the highest-ranked player remaining in the draw.
Andreeva beat Leylah Fernandez on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals. She’ll face Hailey Baptiste next after the American surprised Sabalenka in their quarter-final match. Just two wins from lifting the trophy, Andreeva has a great chance to make her mark in Madrid.
Andreeva can make her mark on Roland Garros with a win in Madrid Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Andreeva is still just a teenager. She only turned 19 this week, but has already packed a lot into her young career. The Russian has two WTA 1000 titles to her name, a Grand Slam semi-final appearance, and she’s been ranked as high as fifth in the world.
But despite all of that, there hasn’t been much talk about her as a serious contender for the French Open title. A strong showing in Madrid might change that narrative quickly. If Andreeva follows through and wins the title, it’ll be hard to leave her out of the Roland Garros conversation.