Marta Kostyuk is the champion in Madrid, having beaten Mirra Andreeva earlier today in straight sets.
Despite the relatively routine nature of her victory, it was an enthralling match laden with remarkable quality, with the Ukrainian saving set points in the second set, unwilling to be dragged into a dogfight.
Alas, for Mirra Andreeva, it was a crushing defeat, and she had to cover her face immediately after the match as the tears flowed.
Such is the strangeness of this sport, the 19-year-old was quickly forced to emerge from her self-made cocoon to deliver her runners-up address.
Mirra Andreeva’s emotional on-court interview after losing the Madrid Open final
She began her speech by, rather unsurprisingly, congratulating her opponent: “First of course I would like to congratulate Marta and your team for your amazing win today, and for how your clay season is going so far as well.
“You’ve won two tournaments in a row, so you’re playing very well, so congrats on the win today as well.”
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Andreeva then reserved praise for the sponsors, the tournament directors and the fans, without whom she said all of this would not be possible.
The tears came back out as she attempted to thank her team, starting: “And of course, thanks to my team for always being there for me.”
The Russian’s voice shuddered as she tried to speak, fighting back her emotions. “I’m sorry,” she claimed. “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry.”
Hiding behind her runners-up trophy, she finished by stating: “Thanks to my team for always being there for me. Supporting me all the time, when it’s easy and when it’s hard.
“I know it’s sometimes maybe not easy to work with me, but I really appreciate all your support and everything that you do for me. So thank you so much.”
This comes not long after Andreeva was warned what could stop her from becoming a Grand Slam champion.
Mirra Andreeva told she got her emotions all wrong in Madrid Open final
Usually the kind of player who is unafraid to show her emotions, today we saw a different side of Andreeva.
With the speed at which she was serving, desperate to keep the match flowing, it almost felt like she was trying to prevent giving herself time to overthink.
Naomi Broady, also speaking live on Sky Sports, noticed this and argued that Andreeva got it wrong by suppressing her emotions so dramatically.
She claimed: “Although she kept her emotions from bubbling over, I think she kept them too low at times today.
“So again, it’s not necessarily back to the drawing board. I think she’s clearly very aware of needing to work on that side of things, but I think she’s just taken it almost a little bit too far today.
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“So a bit more balance for Andreeva on that side of things, but she just celebrated her 19th birthday two days ago. So we had to give her grace in that, and just enjoy watching her grow and develop, not only as a tennis player, as an athlete, but also as a person. She’s just one of the nicest girls off the court.
“We love listening to her in the interviews and her speeches and seeing that side of her off the court, so she’s going to find it on the court, but today was all about Kostyuk.
“It was her level of tennis. She kept things on her terms, on her racket right from the first point till absolutely the last.”
