Teenager Andreeva crowned youngest WTA 1000 champion with victory over Tauson

Mirra Andreeva became the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 title when the 17-year-old beat Clara Tauson 7-6 (1), 6-1 in the Dubai Tennis Championships final on Saturday.

The precocious Russian, who beat three Grand Slam champions -- Marketa Vondrousova, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina -- to reach the final, will make her top-10 debut in the rankings next week.

“I’d set a goal for myself to be in top 10 by the end of the year. Now it’s the end of February and I’ve already made it, so this is something incredible for me,” Andreeva said.

“I’m just super happy with the way I was playing today. I was hella (very) nervous. I think you could see it during the match with all those double faults, some mistakes.

“So I’m just really happy that I could manage and deal with the pressure. And now it just feels amazing... This is something I dreamt of and now my dream came true so I’m just, I’m speechless right now.”

Tauson raced into an early lead on the back of a strong service game while Andreeva made two double faults to quickly find herself 2-0 down but the Russian quickly recovered and began playing her shots, breaking back to level at 2-2.

Both players soon found their range with some heavy hitting, using the full width of the court to enthral the crowd. With nothing to separate the pair, the opening set went to a tiebreak.

Andreeva has yet to lose a tiebreak this year and she was near-perfect as she won the first six points before taking the opening set when Tauson sent a return long.

Tauson took a medical timeout before the second set and she was frustrated to lose the first game, throwing her racket on the ground. Despite a couple of sublime drop shots from the Danish player, Andreeva grew in confidence to take a 4-1 lead.

Andreeva, who is coached by former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, then dictated rallies and began grinding down her opponent, firing winners with emphatic overhead smashes that left Tauson deflated as the Russian teenager went 5-1 up.

Andreeva smelled victory as she served for the title and sealed it when another Tauson return went long on her second championship point.

Andreeva also broke new ground as only the second teenager -- male or female -- to win the Dubai event since its inception in 1993, after Rafa Nadal in 2006.

“Lastly, I want to thank me for never quitting and always believing in myself,” a beaming Andreeva said after she lifted up the trophy. (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)

Top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend captured their second title of the season after defeating No. 3 seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The duel was a rematch of the Australian Open final, which Siniakova and Townsend won 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 to win their second Grand Slam title as a team.

Saturday’s final proved slightly easier, as Siniakova and Townsend prevailed 7-6(5), 6-4.

Dubai is the third team title for Siniakova and Townsend and their first as a team at a WTA 1000. Their two prior titles both came at the Slams, breaking through at 2024 Wimbledon and Melbourne in January.

World No. 1 Siniakova completed a successful title defense in Dubai, where she was a champion with Storm Hunter last year. The win is Siniakova’s 30th career doubles title. Dubai is No. 3 Townsend’s ninth career doubles title.

After receiving an opening-round walkover, Siniakova and Townsend defeated Laura Siegemund and Beatriz Haddad Maia, and Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai en route to the final.

Little separated the two teams in the first set, which went the way of the server through the first six games. Hsieh and Ostapenko broke first with the help of the Latvian’s powerful work from the baseline but failed to consolidate and hold in the next game. They earned a chance to serve out the set at 6-5, but Hsieh could not close out the game from 40-0 up.