Andreeva, perfect week so far
Andreeva did not miss a set in Indian Wells. She beat Svitolina and Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 then Diana Schneider: 6-2, 6-1before coming from a break down in two sets to beat Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals. He has missed just 18 games en route to the finals, the fewest by a finalist since a round-robin comeback in 2003, one fewer than Justin Henin in 2007 and Iga Sviatek in 2023.
“I remember how I played when I beat him here, but I knew it was going to be a tough match. She’s an amazing player,” Andreeva said after their group match, referring to her quarter-final win over Svitolina at the Indian Wells in March 2025.
Svitolina’s angry comeback
After that opening loss, Svitolina turned her week around. She came from a set down to beat Karolina Muchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, knocked out fragile Sabalenka 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, then avenged Linda Noskova, who defeated her in the Billie Jean King Cup final, in the semi-finals, 6-2, 6-1.
“I was really angry with myself after the first game and the first set,” the Ukrainian told Sky Sports. “I tried to direct my anger towards the ball and I found my game in the end.”
For the first time since 2019, Svitolina is playing in her third WTA Finals final, after defeating Sloane Stephens for the title in 2018 and Ashley Barty in 2019. Among active players, only Serena and Venus Williams have won more matches at the event than her 13-1 record.
Recordings are available
For Andreeva, the title would make her the third teenager to win a WTA final on debut, after Chris Evert in 1972 and Maria Sharapova in 2004, and the first teenage champion since Sharapova. Only Serena Williams in 2012 and Sviatek in 2023 have won the tournament without dropping a set since 2003. The Roland Garros champion will also join Barty, Petra Kvitova, Sharapova, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova on the list of players who have won their first major and first WTA F year.
At 32, Svitolina will become just the third player aged 30 or over to win the tournament, after Navratilova in 1986 and Serena Williams between 2012 and 2014. Eight years and 17 days after her maiden title, she would also break Serena’s record for the longest gap between two WTA Finals titles: 201, 201 and 201 years. The age difference between the two finalists, 12 years and 229 days, is the biggest in a WTA Finals final since Navratilova and Seles in 1991.
Head to head and what’s at stake?
Andreeva leads them 2-1, all three matches on hard courts. She won their first meeting 7-5, 6-3 at Indian Wells in March 2025, Svitolina hit back 6-2, 6-4 in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January, ahead of Monday’s group match.
whatever it is Andreeva will finish the year as world No. 2the youngest No. 2 since Sharapova in 2006. Svitolina will finish the season at No. 4, equaling her best ranking of 2018, if she wins, and No. 6 if she loses.
The undefeated title will earn Andreeva $3,370,000 and 1,500 rating points. A Svitolina win, with two round wins instead of three, would be worth $3,140,000. Both amounts are well below Elena Rybakina’s record $5,235,000 collected in Riyadh last year after the tournament moved to California, reducing the total prize money from $15.5 million to $10 million.