Mirra Andreeva won 11 games in a row to beat world number two Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 6-0 and reach the semi-finals of the WTA Finals. The 19-year-old Russian, the reigning French Open champion, trailed 4-1 in the opening set before turning the match around and then dominated the second. The result put Andreeva through as group winner, while Sabalenka's fate will be decided in a final group match on Friday against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, with the winner advancing to the last four. It was a statement performance from a player who is still a teenager.
The case that this was a genuinely impressive win rests on Andreeva's quality. She hit 16 winners to only six unforced errors, used loopy high balls to wrong-foot Sabalenka before showing her power, and held her nerve when she found herself 15-30 down serving for the first set, hitting three aces in a row to take the lead. From a double-break lead, Sabalenka won only a further 10 points in the match. Andreeva had also beaten Svitolina 6-4 6-0 on Monday, so she finished the group stage as its leading player after two straight dominant results. Her French Open title shows she can deliver on the biggest stages, and a win over a four-time major champion at 19 reinforces her place among the leading players in the women's game.
Andreeva herself, however, offered a more modest reading. She told Sky Sports that Sabalenka did not have her best day and said she could not take all the credit, which was not very fair in some ways. The numbers back that up. Sabalenka, who has won four major singles titles, hit 23 unforced errors and failed to produce a single ace, and she played with taping on her knee. The collapse echoed earlier meltdowns this year, when she lost deciding sets 6-0 at the French Open and the Berlin Open, although this unravelling was much quicker. The group has also been unpredictable: Svitolina lost 6-4 6-0 to Andreeva on Monday but came back to beat Karolina Muchova 3-6 6-2 6-2 on Wednesday, so one lopsided scoreline does not settle who is best in the field.
The result matters for the shape of the women's game. Sabalenka is among the sport's top players and a loss like this raises questions about her consistency in big matches late in a long season, while Andreeva's rise suggests a new generation is arriving earlier than expected. It also keeps the title race open. With Svitolina, the 2019 winner of this event, still alive and Sabalenka facing elimination in her last group match, the semi-final line-up will come down to the final day of group play. For fans, the tournament has delivered drama and sharp contrasts between experience and youth.
Andreeva's win was emphatic, even if she was the first to acknowledge it owed something to Sabalenka's off day. She now waits in the semi-finals as the group winner, while Sabalenka and Svitolina play for the last place. The season-ending event has found its early storyline.
