Adelaide International: Andreeva completes “WTA Category Slam” at just 18
Mirra Andreeva won the trophy on Saturday night against Victoria Mboko.
Mirra Andreeva, Adelaide 2026 | © Tennis Australia
The teenage rivalry of the future arrived early in Adelaide as Mirra Andreeva left no doubt about her standing among the elite. In a clinical display of tactical maturity, the 18-year-old world No. 8 dismantled Canada’s Victoria Mboko 6-3, 6-1 to capture the 2026 Adelaide International title.
“Yeah, “I’m just super happy to win title in Adelaide”, she said. “I saw that Vicky, she played great in the beginning, and then I saw her struggling a little bit physically. I also hope that she can recover in time for Melbourne. She’s an amazing player, so I was just also happy to share the final with her.”
Milestones: A “Full House” and Top 10 Consolidation
With this victory, Andreeva has achieved a rare feat: she has now won a title in every category on the WTA Tour. Adding the Adelaide WTA 500 trophy to her collection – which already includes a WTA 250 (Iași 2024) and two WTA 1000s (Dubai and Indian Wells 2025) – Andreeva has “completed” the circuit tiers before her 19th birthday. The win will propel her to world No. 7 on Monday, marking her first title since her historic “Sunshine Double” breakthrough nearly a year ago.
The Nine-Game Surge
The final began with a surprising twist as the 19-year-old Mboko raced to a 3-0 lead. Her heavy hitting and aggressive baseline play caught Andreeva off guard, briefly suggesting an upset was on the cards. However, the response from the third seed was ruthless. Andreeva won 13 consecutive points to stem the tide and reeled off nine games in a row, flipping the 0-3 deficit into a 6-3, 3-0 lead.
Mboko, struggling with the pace and endurance required to stay in rallies with Andreeva, took a medical timeout when trailing 3-0 in the second set to have her blood pressure and pulse checked. While she managed to hold serve once more, the match was effectively over. Andreeva sealed the win in 64 minutes, having broken Mboko’s serve five times.
Mboko’s Physicality: A Body at its Limit
Mboko’s physical struggle was the result of a grueling week. Before the final, she had played nearly nine hours across five matches, including three-set marathons against world-class opponents like Beatriz Haddad Maia, Anna Kalinskaya, and defending champion Madison Keys.
“Actually, before I went on court I wasn’t feeling the best”, she said. “I really tried to push through in the beginning of the match. Mirra is pretty tough, has a lot of endurance, and she was really pushing me to my limits. But it happens. Not every day you’re going to feel great. I feel like I’ve also played a lot of long matches this week, and maybe my body just wasn’t really able to keep up with me for today. Hopefully I can rest up before the Australian Open, which is mainly what I want to do well in.”
it all was clear that she doesn’t feel hundred percent.
“She started very well, hitting the ball very solid, making a lot of winners”, Andreeva added. “Then I just kind of felt that the intensity dropped a little bit from her. She still kept making some amazing shots. I just told myself not to pay attention to that, just stay focused, do my thing, try to build my game on just making her run. Then to find an option to just put a winner in the court, finish the rally.”
“I just saw that she was running less and less. She was struggling a little bit. Then obviously she called the physios. Then it all was clear that she doesn’t feel hundred percent. Then after that I just told myself really not to think about that, focus on what I do until the very last point, and that’s it.”
First Round at the Australian Open
Both players now head to Melbourne with high expectations for the year’s first Grand Slam:
- Mirra Andreeva (Seed No. 8): She faces a high-stakes opening match against Croatia’s Donna Vekic, the Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalist. Having reached the fourth round in Melbourne in each of the last two seasons, Andreeva is aiming for her first deep run into the second week.
- Victoria Mboko (Seed No. 17): Making her Australian Open main draw debut, Mboko will face Australian wildcard and fellow rising star Emerson Jones. Despite her physical fatigue in Adelaide, her new career-high ranking of No. 16 ensures she enters as a significant threat in her section of the draw.
