A day after securing her berth in the season-ending WTA Finals, No. 4 seed Mirra Andreeva advanced to the China Open final in Beijing for the first time with a straight-sets victory over No. 26 seed Nikola Bartunkova.
Andreeva needed 1 hour, 14 minutes to secure the 6-2, 6-2 victory, hitting 16 winners and committing just 10 unforced errors in the semifinal.
“I’m very happy and excited to be in the finals,” Andreeva told the media after the win. “I think I played very good today. I’m super happy with the way I was playing. Of course, Nikola is a very tricky opponent. We had a tough match at the US Open. But I’m super happy I won today.”
Storming into the final ⚡️ Mirra Andreeva closes out an incredible performance defeating Bartunkova 6-2, 6-2 and reaches the final in Beijing! #ChinaOpen https://t.co/NhvaPVNUc9
— wta (@WTA) October 10, 2026
Andreeva revealed that she has been working with her team on several aspects of her game, particularly her return. The work is paying off. She leads the WTA Tour in break points converted in 2026, having converted 301 in main-draw matches at tour level this season. She converted five in Saturday’s semifinal from 10 break-point opportunities.
“We’ve been working on returning a lot,” she added. “Every practice that I have we’re trying to improve everything, but also to work on return because I feel like even if the opponent serves well, you still have to try and put some pressure on the server. I feel like the work is paying off little by little. So super happy with those numbers. Conchita will be even more happy because it was her initiative. We’ll just continue improving (smiling).”
Sunday’s final will be Andreeva’s fifth of the season, tying her with Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula for the most finals appearances this year on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.
The victory was Andreeva’s 50th of the season, tying her with Pegula for the most match wins on the tour in 2026. The result will also lift her to a career-high World No. 3 in the rankings next week.
Andreeva will face No. 13 seed Elise Mertens or former World No. 4 Zheng Qinwen in Sunday’s final. She has lost her only previous match against Zheng and holds a 1-0 record against Mertens.
“I think if Qinwen wins, I pretty much have some experience of playing against local players,” Andreeva said looking ahead to Sunday. “I think that’s going to be fine. We all know that she’s playing at home. Also she’s been coming back, she’s been playing better, she’s been beating a lot of great players. I think no matter who’s going to win, it’s going to be tough. I think Elise, she beat two top-10 players in a row. She’s also on a great winning streak. She’s been playing great, as well.”
Despite their different playing styles, Andreeva said she and her team will be prepared for the final. “Elise has a different game style,” she added. “I feel like Qinwen, obviously she’s more aggressive, she likes to hit a lot of balls, she tries to play fast, whereas I think Elise kind of likes to play, build the point, kind of be smart, what to do. Different types of opponents. We will prepare our best with Conchita no matter who will win and I will try to play my best in the final.”