Kostyuk wins first WTA 1000 title with backflip and a perfect clay record
Kostyuk (No 26) beat Andreeva (No 9) 6-3, 7-5, and won every clay match she played in 2026. She came to Madrid as the 26th seed. She left as champion and new World No.15.
Marta Kostyuk, Madrid 2026 | © Laurent Layris / PsNewz
Marta Kostyuk won the biggest title of her career on Saturday evening, beating Russian Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open, and celebrated on the Manolo Santana clay with a backflip that said everything about the week she had just produced.
“To win here is incredible”, Kostyuk said in the press room after her triumph. “I always had a really bad record here up until last year, so it’s very exciting. I wanted to enjoy this match as much as possible, no matter the outcome, and that’s the goal I achieved. Winning it is just a bonus.”
The match was settled by the quality of Kostyuk’s returning and her ability to stay composed through a volatile second set. She broke at 3-2 in the first and never relinquished the advantage. The second set was chaotic: five breaks exchanged, Andreeva leading 3-1 before the Ukrainian absorbed the deficit, won four of the next five games, and closed it out 7-5, saving two set points à 5-4 on her serve.
“I wanted to start the match putting pressure on her, and I was serving really well today”, Kostyuk said. “At the start of second, she played really, really good three games, and I just wanted to keep doing the same thing – and it worked out.”
Kostyuk converted all four of her break points in two sets. Andreeva, who had beaten Hailey Baptiste in two tiebreaks in the semi-finals, could not find the same clarity when it mattered. “Both sets were super close. I had break points down when I was serving for the set, and then she had two set points. It could have gone any way, but I’m very happy to finish in two sets.”
Undefeated on clay
The result was Kostyuk’s 12th consecutive win and extended her unbeaten clay record in 2026 to twelve matches without a single loss – a run that began with her title in Rouen ten days ago and has now produced the biggest clay-court prize of the season. She is 23 years old, ranked No 23, and rises to No 15 on Monday. It is her third career title and her 14th top-10 win, with five of those coming in 2026 alone.
For Andreeva, the defeat denies her a first Madrid title but leaves her with her third WTA 1000 final of the year, a rise to No 7 in the rankings, and the knowledge that her clay game – 12-1 for the season before Saturday – is among the most consistent on the tour. At 19, the reckoning will come.
The 2026 WTA 1000 season has produced four different champions across five events: Karolína Muchová in Doha, Jessica Pegula in Dubai, Aryna Sabalenka in Indian Wells and Miami, and now Kostyuk in Madrid.
Not one of the top five seeds in the draw reached the semi-finals. The draw that ate its favourites whole delivered a worthy champion – one who won every match she played, never dropped her serve in the deciding moments, and celebrated by launching herself into the Madrid air.
KOSTYUK’S 12 WINS IN A ROW ON CLAY
Rouen R1: d. Diane Parry (France) 6-1, 6-4
Rouen R2: d. Catherine McNally (USA) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
Rouen QF: d. Ann Li (USA) 6-0, 6-7 (7), 6-3
Rouen SF: d. Tatjana Maria (Germany) 6-3, 6-0
Rouen Final: d. Veronika Podrez (Ukraine) 6-3, 6-4
Madrid R1: d. Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) 6-1, 6-3
Madrid R2: d. Jessica Pegula (USA) 6-1, 6-4
Madrid R3: d. Catherine McNally (USA) 6-2, 6-3
Madrid QF: d. Linda Noskova (Czech Republic) 7-6 (1), 6-0
Madrid SF: d. Anastasia Potapova (Austria) 6-2, 1-6, 6-1
Madrid Final: d. Mirra Andreeva (Russia) 6-3, 7-5
