Mirra Andreeva Faces Baptiste for Madrid Open 2026 Final Berth
Mirra Andreeva meets Hailey Baptiste in the madrid open 2026 semifinals on Thursday, with a first Madrid final on the line for both players. Marta Kostyuk and lucky loser Anastasia Potapova fill the other semifinal, keeping the draw wide open at La Caja Mágica.
Andreeva’s birthday run
Andreeva reached her first Madrid semifinal after a straight-sets win over Leylah Fernandez, then turned 19 on Wednesday. Her route to this point was not smooth: in the round of 16 against Anna Bondar, she led 5-1 in the third set before Bondar rallied and pushed the match to a tiebreak.
After that match, Andreeva said, “Today I just tried to turn things around and not let that happen again,” and added, “The most important is how you handle it, and how you reset for the next point. I feel like today it was much better than yesterday.” She also said, “I felt like I did a better job today. Still, obviously at some points I was pretty emotional as well. But I do feel like it's a tennis match, and sometimes obviously something can happen.”
Baptiste’s Sabalenka shock
Baptiste arrives with the loudest result of the week. She beat World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 in the quarterfinals, saved six match points, and collected the first top five victory of her career. It was also her first WTA 1000 semifinal, and it made her the lowest ranked player to pull off a comeback win on clay against the World No. 1 in the last 40 years.
That result put Baptiste into a first meeting with Andreeva since Wimbledon in 2025, when Andreeva won 6-1, 6-3 in the third round. Baptiste called it “Somebody else that I played before and lost to. A little bit of a revenge tour, I guess,” and added, “Looking to go out there and play my game again and get another win.”
Kostyuk and Potapova
The other semifinal carries its own history. Kostyuk and Potapova are tied 2-2 in their head-to-head, and Kostyuk beat her 6-3, 6-2 in the 2025 Madrid round of 16. Potapova reached the last four as a lucky loser, while Kostyuk is also chasing her first Madrid final.
All four semifinalists are still looking for that first appearance in a Madrid final on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. Andreeva’s 1-0 edge over Baptiste, plus Baptiste’s upset over Sabalenka, gives Thursday’s matches a clear edge: one of the tour’s youngest rising players or one of the week’s biggest surprise performers will keep that breakthrough run alive.
