Andreeva Wins WTA Finals Without Dropping a Set, First Teen Since Sharapova

Mirra Andreeva beat Elina Svitolina 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday to win the WTA Finals on her debut, finishing the week 5-0 without dropping a set. The 19-year-old is the first teenager to win the season-ending title since Maria Sharapova in 2004, takes home $3.37 million and 1,500 ranking points, and rises to a career-high world No. 2 on Monday.

How did the final play out?

Tighter than their first meeting of the week, and then not close at all. Andreeva saved three break points to keep Svitolina from taking momentum in the first set, then went up a break after Svitolina had tied it at 5-5 and served out the set. Svitolina fell behind a break to start the second, broke back, then fell behind a double break and broke back again to make it 4-3 in the longest game of the match. Andreeva kept applying pressure and closed out the set and the match. The Desert Sun reports more than 7,000 fans inside Stadium 2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden cheered Svitolina on, with several Ukrainian flags waving in the crowd.

What makes the unbeaten run so rare?

Only seven players have ever run through the WTA Finals without losing a single set, and Andreeva did it on her debut against the top eight players of the season. She beat Svitolina, Aryna Sabalenka and Diana Shnaider in the group stage, then Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinal. The group-stage win over Svitolina was 6-4, 6-0, which makes the final’s 7-5, 6-3 scoreline a measure of how much harder Svitolina made her work the second time. Andreeva now leads their head-to-head 3-1, with two of those wins coming this week.

What did the ‘diva’ row have to do with it?

It set the tone for the whole week. The tournament began in a media storm after Pegula was caught on a live microphone describing Andreeva as a ‘diva’ during a practice session, and Andreeva answered by beating her in the semifinal. The week also carried the fallout from Sabalenka’s viral clip and apology after her defeat by Svitolina, which put the final’s two players at the centre of the tournament’s biggest talking points before a ball was hit in the final. Andreeva’s response to all of it was to win every set she played.

What does Andreeva take home besides the trophy?

The maximum prize money of $3,370,000, 1,500 ranking points, the Billie Jean King Trophy, and a one-of-a-kind purple Mercedes convertible. King herself presented the trophy, as a co-founder of the WTA. The car comes with a catch that Andreeva flagged before the tournament: she does not yet have a driving licence. She said that if she won she would have someone drive her in the Mercedes to the Cheesecake Factory and to In-N-Out, and after the win she added: “This is major motivation for me to get my license as fast as I can.”

What did Svitolina say after losing?

She thanked the people back in Ukraine for supporting her on the journey, and she did not hide her disappointment. The 32-year-old was playing her third WTA Finals championship match and chasing a second title after her 2018 win in Singapore. She leaves with $1,500,000 and 800 ranking points. She had said earlier in the week that she has felt the support of the people during a difficult time for Ukraine, and the flags in the crowd during her semifinal and the final showed it.

What does this mean for Andreeva’s career?

It caps the best season of her career and puts her one step from the top of the rankings. She won her first Grand Slam at Roland Garros this year, becoming the youngest to win the Paris event since Monica Seles in 1992, and she won the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells as a 17-year-old in March 2025. She reached No. 3 last month, the youngest player inside the top three since Sharapova in 2005, and Monday’s move to No. 2 keeps that climb going. Her own words after the final suggest she is not treating this as an arrival. “Coming into this match, it is the second time in my life I’m going to die on the court and she is going to win this match over my dead body,” she said. “I’m going to have blisters, I’m gonna have cramps, but I’m not losing this match.”