Andreeva rallies to beat Mboko in Adelaide final

Third-seeded Mirra Andreeva trailed 3-0 but came back to win nine games in a row and 12 of the last 13 to beat Victoria Mboko 6-3, 6-1 in the Adelaide International final on Saturday. The match featured the only players aged under 20 inside the top 20 on the WTA Tour. Andreeva is 18 and Mboko 19. The Canadian took a 3-0 lead in the first set before Andreeva evened the match, winning 13 consecutive points and dominating the rest of the set and match.

Trailing 3-0 in the second set, Mboko took a medical timeout when her blood pressure and pulse was taken. She returned to win her first game of the second set but Andreeva closed out the match three games later. It was Andreeva’s fourth WTA title. “I’ve been practicing a lot,” Andreeva said.

I’ve been working, sweating . . . “ Mboko has rapidly established herself near the top of the rankings and has two career titles: the WTA 1000 Canadian Open at Montreal last year and the WTA 250 Hong Kong Open. She will rise to a career-high No. 16 ahead of her Australian Open debut on Monday, where she’ll face another teen in Australia’s Emerson Jones.

“Sorry I couldn’t be 100 per cent, but I want to give a huge congrats to Mirra for playing incredible tennis today and her team, of course, too,” Mboko said. Andreeva will also open her Australian Open campaign on Monday, facing Donna Vekic. Andreeva has reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park the past two years. In the later men’s final at Adelaide, Tomas Machac beat Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-2.