18-year-old Mirra Andreeva won her 4th WTA Tour title at the WTA 500 Adelaide International on Saturday after powering past 19-year-old Victoria Mboko 6-3 6-1 in just 64 minutes.
It is of course a great preparation to go to Melbourne and play in the Australian Open. You know, obviously it gives me a lot of confidence to see myself playing well on the field, and in two days I’m actually going to play another match in Melbourne. I just have to bring the same level of my game and the same mentality to Melbourne. I think I will play well there too. Mirra Andreeva
The young Russian, seeded third in Hobart, needed twelve of the last thirteen games to lift the trophy.
“Hello everyone,” Andreeva said afterwards during the trophy presentation, before teasing her team. “First of all, I’m going to congratulate Vicky and her team. You’ve been playing great since last year, and I just want to congratulate you on a great week. I hope we can reach many more finals together in the future, and I wish you the best of luck for the rest of the season.”
“I don’t know, I think my team is next, but I feel like it was all me. I don’t know what I can say, but I feel like it was all me. I practiced a lot. I worked, I sweat and I don’t even know why you’re here, honestly!”
It all paid off as during her four matches this week, Andreeva recorded 21 breaks in just 63 games, while she was just as sharp on serve, winning 89 of 125 first serve points, which is just over 71%.
The teenager defeated fellow youngsters Maya Joint and Diana Shnaider to reach her fifth WTA Tour final, while 19-year-old Mboko upset reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys on her way to her third trophy match.
© Michael Errey/AFP via Getty Images
Mboko came into the final on the momentum of her quarter-final against Keys, the defending champion, and a 59-minute demolition of wildcard Kimberly Birrell in the Last 4, and she made it 3-0 early in the first set against Andreeva, the world number 8.
From then on, however, Andreeva completely flipped the script, playing nine consecutive matches and twelve of the last thirteen to overtake Mboko and clinch the title in Adelaide, adding the WTA 500 to her career, the WTA 250 and two WTA 1000s.
She also owns a WTA 1000 and WTA 500 doubles title, plus a silver medal in doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympics, all with Shnaider as her partner.
Andreeva broke Mboko five times, winning 75% of her points for the first time, as well as 67% on her second throw, as she finished with 15 winners and 11 unforced errors, testament to the consistency of her forehand and backhand that kept Mboko off balance.
“I would like to thank myself for my bravery in all the matches I have played,” she said. “I want to thank myself for challenging myself every day in practice… I want to thank myself for changing my mentality by fighting until the very end. For doing what I have to do, doing what my team tells me to do!”
Remarkably, Andreeva did not drop a set in Adelaide, conceding just 15 games in her bid to lift the trophy, including victories over Marie Bouzkova, Joint, Shnaider and Mboko.
The win moves Andreeva one spot to number 7 in the PIF WTA rankings, passing Jasmine Paolini.
Victoria Mboko won her first three matches against Mirra Andreeva before losing 12 of the next 13, raising doubts about the 19-year-old’s fitness ahead of the Australian Open.
© Mark Brake/Getty Images
For Mboko, the loss marks her first in a WTA final after winning her first two, but it’s still been a productive week for the young Canadian, who will rise to a career-high No. 16 ahead of her Australian Open debut on Monday, where she will face another teenager in Australia’s Emerson Jones.
However, her health appears to be of some concern as she took a medical timeout midway through the second set and later admitted that she was not at full strength. She also played with a significant knee brace on her right leg.
“Well, first of all I would like to thank everyone who came to watch today,” Mboko said during the trophy presentation. “Sorry I couldn’t be 100%, but I would like to congratulate Mirra on the great tennis game today, and of course also to her team. So thank you.”
Andreeva, who has reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park in each of the last two years, also opens her campaign against Donna Vekic at Margaret Court Arena on Monday evening.
“Of course it is a great preparation to go to Melbourne and play in the Australian Open,” said Andreeva, who will be the eighth seed at the first Grand Slam of the year. “You know, it obviously gives me a lot of confidence to see myself playing well on the field, and in two days I’m actually going to play another match in Melbourne.
“I just have to bring the same level of my game and the same mentality to Melbourne. I think I will play well there too. Obviously I feel more confident after this win. Also winning a title is also super special for me. So yeah, I just have to, maybe today and tomorrow I can relax a bit, we practice and then we have to get back to work.”
Mirra Andreeva wore her signature sweatshirt and posed with the Adelaide trophy next to runner-up Victoria Mboko
© Michael Errey/AFP via Getty Images
Just after winning her first title of the 2026 season, Andreeva unveiled a stylish surprise: She wore a sweatshirt with her signature slogan after the win: “I would like to thank myself.”
The 18-year-old explained the slogan during her post-match press conference.
“Well, it started when I first said that sentence,” she said. “It was when I won my first tournament in Romania, in Iasi, a 250 WTA tournament. Since then, every time I win and get to give a speech, I have to say something on the court after I win. I always say thank you to myself, but it’s not my thing. I stole it from Snoop Dogg. Because I saw him say that in some kind of interview when he said, ‘I want to thank me’. And then his song was playing in the background. So I stole it from him.”
Katerina Siniakova & Zhang Shuai won the South Australia doubles title with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Lyudmyla Kichenok & Desirae Krawczyk in Friday’s final in Adelaide
Czech Katerina Siniakova & Taiwan’s Zhang Shuai secured the doubles title in South Australia with a 6-1 6-4 win over Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok & Desirae Krawczyk of USA on Friday.
Siniakova & Zhang converted 6 out of 7 break point chances as the Czech, the best doubles player in the PIF WTA Rankings, started her season on a high note.
The victory marks Siniakova’s 33rd WTA doubles title, which ranks third among active players behind Sara Errani and Hsieh Su-wei, while she has won each of her last four titles with different partners.
For Zhang, Adelaide is her 16th WTA doubles title.
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