Mirra Andreeva survived a huge scare to reach the Madrid Open quarter-finals and immediately burst into tears. The ninth seed stormed back to force a decider after losing a close first set to Anna Bondar on Monday, and raced into a 5-1 lead in set three. But she fell away as Bondar won the next five games in a row.
After blowing a huge lead, Andreeva shouted over to her team during one of the changeovers, telling them: “I’m not a champion. I’m not a champion, no. I will lose. I will lose. I choke. I don’t want anything.”
But she was able to regroup and force a final-set tiebreak after dropping five straight games. There, Andreeva and Bondar traded two mini-breaks each. But the Russian won the final point to seal a 6-7(5) 6-3 7-6(5) comeback victory, and started crying.
The 18-year-old bowed her head and could be seen welling up as she approached her opponent at the net for the handshake. As Andreeva stepped into the centre of the court to soak up her victory, the tears started falling.
This is a third straight quarter-final for Andreeva in Madrid. Last year, she lost to Coco Gauff, and in 2024, the teenager was beaten by Aryna Sabalenka.
Andreeva enjoyed her breakthrough here three years ago, receiving a main-draw wildcard as a 15-year-old ranked 194th in the world. She stormed into the last 16, beating two top-20 players before losing to Sabalenka.
After surviving a huge wobble, the ninth seed will face Leylah Fernandez in Tuesday’s quarter-final. She beat Fernandez here in 2023.
Andreeva has rediscovered her form on the clay in recent weeks. She was a late entrant into the WTA 500 event in Linz and went on to win the title. Then she reached the semi-finals in Stuttgart, losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina.
Andreeva then suffered a 7-6(4) 4-6 6-0 defeat to Mboko in the fourth round in Miami. But she has a 10-1 record on the clay so far this season.