Even while Marta Kostyuk was playing exceptionally brilliant tennis in the first set of her 2026 Madrid Open final against Mirra Andreeva, tennis fans might have felt that lots of tennis remained to be played. Andreeva has already succeeded too much in her young career to be given up on so easily.
Still, 23-year-old Kostyuk had the right approach entering the match. She wanted to pounce on 19-year-old Andreeva's second serve by stepping inside the baseline to aggressively try to crush winners off the serve. That didn't always work in the first set, but enough where Andreeva was playing defense while Kostyuk got the only break she would need to take the set.
It also helped that the Ukrainian wasn't missing much with her forehand, hitting cross-court with ease, and then holding relatively the same. Serving at 5-3, Andreeva did get her first break points of the set at 15-40, but Kostyuk rushed back to hold and take the lead in the match 6-4.
Marta Kostyuk defeats Mirra Andreeva to win the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open
The second set seemed on the verge of resetting the narrative, though. Andreeva got a break early and had a 3-1 lead. Kostyuk had dipped in form somewhat, but that would turn out to be temporary. The 26-seed got her own break of the 9-seed, and then held to get back to even at 3-all.
While the players don't appear to have any outward animosity toward each other, Marta Kostyuk might have been more driven to win the Masters 1000 final due to her representing Ukraine while Mirra Andreeva is from Russia. The two have only played once before, at Brisbane this year, when Kostyuk won in straight sets.
The two had previously been scheduled to participate in an exhibition match in France in 2023, but Kostyuk chose not to play as she didn't want to play a meaningless match against a player from a country that Kostyuk's nation was at war with.
Not that the Ukrainian's level against the Russian in Madrid was shocking. Both players had performed magnificently during the runs at the event. The final was bound to be intriguing and tense.
This was further proven with Kostyuk serving at 4-5 in the second set and Andreeva getting multiple break points with some otherworldly shot-making, including a backhand cross-court winner that appears to stun the Ukrainian as much as it did the crowd watching. Still, Kostyuk was able to hold to get to 5-all.
In the next game, Marta Kostyuk was able to get the break, a game finished off by a double fault by Mirra Andreeva. The Ukrainian was then able to hold with relative ease to win the 2026 Madrid Open and take her first Masters 1000 title.
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