Preview & Pick: Mirra Andreeva or Marta Kostyuk to win the Mutua Madrid Open title?

Of the two prodigies, Andreeva started to fulfill her potential far more shortly. At 16, she made the semi-finals at Roland Garros. At 17, she gained back-to-back WTA 1000s and reached No. 5 in the rankings. Kostyuk, now 23, has a career-high rating of 16 after 10 years on tour.

Since the clay season began, although, the Russian and the Ukrainian have been rising at the similar time.

Each started the swing by profitable a 250 title on grime—Andreeva in Linz, Kostyuk in Rouen. Andreeva went on to beat Iga Swiatek and make the Stuttgart semis, whereas Kostyuk upset No. 5 Jessica Pegula in Madrid and has now gained 10 matches in a row.

Kostyuk credit her current success to long-term remedy, geared toward making an attempt to make her much less risky on court docket. You can see the enchancment in her reactions throughout matches.

“I’ve always wanted to change my overall perspective on tennis,” she mentioned this week. “Because for me it was always very, very emotional, and I would spend just a lot of energy, and everything would matter so much to me. Whether it was wins or losses, it was, you know, very just difficult to live in this constant emotional bombing from the inside.”