Mirra Andreeva, the Russian teenager who fell to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final of the WTA 1000 Madrid Open, admitted that defeat feels like “the end of the world” for her. The 19-year-old from Siberia entered the championship match as the favorite but couldn’t hold back her emotions afterwards.
Andreeva revealed that she has not yet been able to discuss the match with her coach, Spanish tennis legend Conchita Martínez. “She just hugged me. Every time she started talking to me, I started crying. So we haven’t spoken yet,” the young star said.
“It’s a tough day. But overall, I think once I talk with my team, we’ll be able to take a lot of positives from this week. It’s been hard, but overall it’s been two pretty good weeks for me,” Andreeva added. “The tournament isn’t over yet, so on Sunday I’ll also give my all in doubles.” She still has a chance to win the doubles title.
Reflecting on her growth, Andreeva noted, “My approach to matches has changed a lot. When I played against Aryna [Sabalenka] in my first tournament here in Madrid, I just tried to enjoy the atmosphere. I didn’t expect anything from myself—I just played like every match was my last. I gave everything. And I knew I couldn’t be hard on myself if I lost because no one expected me to win that many matches that year. But now I know how well I can play, and everyone else knows it too. So now it’s about maintaining that level every time I step on court and staying consistent.”
Andreeva had two set points in the second set but missed her chance to force a decider. “These things happen—two set points in the second set. It’s tennis, no big deal. I had plenty of chances in the first set, but I made three errors after having two break points. Basically, it’s partly my fault. And on the set points… she hit an ace, a great serve—I couldn’t do much. Then after missing the return on her second serve, I could have tried to put it in play, but I wanted to take a risk and be brave. That didn’t work either,” she explained.
“Every time I lose, it feels like the end of the world for me. I see other players smiling right after a loss, right after matches they lost. I don’t understand how they do it. I wish I could. Every match I lose is obviously very disappointing and very painful for me. I hope that in the future this will improve—that after a match I lose, I can talk about it immediately and not need time before I start speaking,” said the Russian, who will rise to world No. 7 on Monday.
“I’m not happy right now. She played well too—she had a lot of winners. She tried to take risks and played very aggressively. At times I tried to pressure her and be aggressive myself. Sometimes I felt I won more points by getting the ball back into the court and building the point slowly to wear her down. But none of that worked,” Andreeva said after being the favorite in the final.
