Mirra Andreeva Argues with Umpire over Controversial Call During Madrid Semifinal

Mirra Andreeva will be locking horns with Marta Kostyuk in the final of the Madrid Open.

Mirra Andreeva Argues with Umpire over Controversial Call During Madrid Semifinal

Mirra Andreeva argued with chair umpire (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

In Short
  • Mirra Andreeva reached her third WTA 1000 final after defeating Hailey Baptiste in the Madrid Open semifinals.
  • The match featured a heated exchange between Andreeva and chair umpire Kader Nouni over a controversial line call.
  • Andreeva will face Marta Kostyuk in the final, who has previously defeated her in their only encounter.

Mirra Andreeva will be playing her third WTA 1000 final of her career. On Thursday (April 30), the Russian ace overcame Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 7-6(8) to reach the title clash of the Madrid Open, becoming the first teenager to reach three WTA 1000 finals.

The match was not without some drama. She complained to chair umpire Kader Nouni multiple times about the electronic line call. During the fifth game of the first set, when Andreeva was down 15-0, she argued with Nouni when a shot from Baptiste was called in. “You know how it works, right? You know how it works, and, unfortunately, I have the green light; it is what it is, and we have to go for it,” Nouni said.

But Andreeva shot back, saying, “So, even if you see that it’s out, you cannot overrule?” And Nouni’s response was: “First of all, I haven’t seen this one out.” Andreeva made a gesture and continued arguing. “But this is not only like this… But this is like that, we’re not talking about this, this is that, this is like five centimeters we’re talking about.” Andreeva walked away when Nouni told her, “I do understand you, but as soon as I have the green light, I have to follow, okay?“

Watch the video here:

The win helped Andreeva improve her head-to-head record over the American ace to 2-0. Before this match, they met in the third round of last year’s Wimbledon.

In the final, the 19-year-old will be up against Marta Kostyuk, who ended the run of Anastasia Potapova in three sets. Kostyuk has met Andreeva just once and won that match. They faced each other in the quarterfinals of this year’s Brisbane International, where the Ukrainian ace clinched a straight-set win and later reached the final only to lose to Aryna Sabalenka.

Before scheduling the match against Andreeva, Baptiste knocked out the Belarusian ace, who was also the defending champion and was competing for her fourth title in the Spanish capital.

Mirra Andreeva is chasing her third title of the season

Mirra Andreeva has already tasted success this season, not just once but twice. She defeated Victoria Mboko in the Adelaide International final and later beat Anastasia Potapova in the Linz Open final.

Mirra Andreeva (2)
Mirra Andreeva (Image via X/HQ pics)

Before arriving in Madrid, Andreeva suffered defeat in the semifinals of the Stuttgart Open at the hands of eventual champion Elena Rybakina. The two WTA 1000 titles that she has lifted were last year’s Dubai Tennis Championships and the Indian Wells Open, by defeating Clara Tauson and Aryna Sabalenka, respectively.

I am very pleased with how I played today. Very happy, furthermore, to reach the final here for the first time, very excited. I felt great on court today, and I’m happy with how I maintained focus until the end. Physically, I feel good, really. I can’t complain. We do everything we can to recover fast, and I feel like I’m recovering well. I don’t feel tired, don’t feel like I need a couple of days off. So far, so good, and we will continue with the same method to keep me fresh and ready for the final.

Before this year, Andreeva had played two quarterfinals in Madrid (in 2024 and 2025). She has so far lifted five singles titles, two of which she won on clay: the 2024 Iasi Open and this year’s Linz Open. Last year, she won just two titles (the two WTA 1000s in Dubai and Indian Wells).

Her opponent, Marta Kostyuk, on the other hand, has won one title so far this season. After her defeat to Sabalenka in the Brisbane International final, she Veronika Podrez in the Open de Rouen final.

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