Much of the form book was thrown away at the WTA 500 Adelaide International on Thursday, as 19-year-old Victoria Mboko upset No. 2 seed Madison Keys and Diana Shnaider dashed 6th seed Emma Navarro’s hopes of advancing to the semifinals, but 3rd seed Mirra Andreeva easily dispatched Maya Joint in a meeting between two talented teenagers on tour, and wild card Kimberly Birrell cleared the way in three sets to be found alongside qualifier Jacqueline Cristian, to the delight of the home crowd.
I kept telling myself to keep trying and fighting for every point. When I came back for the second set, I told myself that if I kept fighting, I would get those opportunities again. Kimberly Birrell
Mboko ended Keys’ title defense with a 6-4 4-6 6-2 victory, her third three-setter in as many appearances this week after a battle lasting almost 2 hours.
“I know she won this tournament last year, and of course the Australian Open, and coming into this match I knew it was going to be a big fight,” Mboko said afterwards. “I think there was a moment in the second set where she hit three return winners on my serve, so that was quite humiliating.
“She is where she is for a reason, and I think to play against these types of players you have to get used to receiving those types of balls. It was great tennis from her, and I’m glad I made it happen.”
Keys also won the Adelaide title in 2022, and she complicated things for Mboko, when the Canadian was a set ahead and ahead, by leveling and holding her own serve to level the match at a set.
However, the reigning Australian Open champion lost steam in the final set, and Mboko steamed ahead to secure the second Top 10 win of her young career after an hour and 53 minutes on court.
In fact, the Canadian took five games in a row after Keys held serve to open the final set, then took advantage of an uneven performance from the defending champion, who committed 41 unforced errors and, despite firing nine aces, faced 12 break points and was broken six times.
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The eighth-seeded Canadian now occupies a favorable position in the semi-finals as she seeks her third career final, all of which have come since her escape on home soil in Montreal last August.
She defeated Australian Kimberly Birrell in the first round of that tournament, and the two will play each other again on Friday for a place in the final, with the unseeded wildcard now enjoying the support of her home crowd.
The 27-year-old from Australia’s Gold Coast advanced to her first career WTA 500 level semi-final with her own 3-set triumph, a 5-7 6-1 7-5 epic against Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian that lasted 3 hours and 4 minutes.
The world number 107, who has won two WTA 250 titles in her career, regrouped after losing a 5-2 lead in the opener to break new ground at this level, also winning the final three matches of the match.
“I kept telling myself to keep trying and fighting for every point,” Birrell said later. “When I came back for the second set, I told myself that if I kept fighting, I would get those opportunities again.”
No. 9 seed Diana Shnaider upset fifth-seeded Emma Navarro in straight sets at the Adelaide International to reach the Final 4
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The top half semi-final will pit former doubles partners Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider against each other.
Together, as neutrals, the two Russians won the silver medal in doubles at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and both advanced in straight sets in Adelaide.
Ninth seed Shnaider upset USA No. 6 seed Emma Navarro 6-3 6-3, while third seed Andreeva needed just 67 minutes to beat Australian No. 1 Maya Joint 6-2 6-0.
After losing six of eight matches against opponents on home soil between August 2024 and the end of 2025, Andreeva has already registered two wins over Aussies at this year’s Australian Swing.
Following her three-set victory over Olivia Gadecki in Brisbane last week, the 18-year-old was dominant against the 19-year-old Joint in their first WTA Tour meeting.
Joint’s daring play in saving four break points to hold in the opening game indicated a tight match, but instead Andreeva steadily increased the pressure by constructing points with corner-to-corner precision, her accuracy contrasting with Joint’s 24 unforced errors, many of which came from the backhand wing.
Andreeva defeated Shnaider 6-2 6-3 in their only previous meeting, in the first round of Brisbane in 2023.
Third seed Mirra Andreeva is now the favorite for the Adelaide title after her easy win over Maya Joint on Thursday
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