Mirra Andreeva reaches World No. 2 after WTA Finals semi-final win

Russia’s Mirra Andreeva is now officially the world’s No 2 player after reaching the title round of the WTA Finals on Saturday. The 19-year-old beat American Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals and while she did speak about her promotion in rankings, one suspects she has bigger fish to fry.

"It's not far from being No 3 in the world," the reigning French Open champion said after hitting the landmark. "So, I don't know if a lot changes with how I feel inside, but yeah, of course it's a nice milestone."

What will surely be at the back of Andreeva’s mind is how close she is to becoming the world No 1. Russian-born Kazakh Elena Rybakina occupies that place, courtesy of her wins at the Australian Open and the US Open, but her absence from the WTA Finals – which she won last year – means that with each win, Andreeva is getting closer to the top spot.

The bubbly teenager is just 793 points behind Rybakina ahead of her WTA Finals decider against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina and a win would leave her just 293 points behind by the end of the season.

Even if she falters at the final hurdle, Andreeva would still be in prime position to usurp the No 1 ranking at the Australian Open in January given Rybakina will have to defend 2,000 points for being the reigning champion.

Incidentally, Andreeva remained unbeaten in her WTA Finals singles debut, having posted round-robin victories over sixth-ranked Svitolina, now world number three Aryna Sabalenka and Diana Shnaider.

The scoreline against Svitolina was 6-4, 6-0, something that is sure to play in the minds of the two players as they battle it out for the title.

But whatever happens in the final, the 2025 Dubai champion has put herself in a very good position to usurp the No 1 ranking from Rybakina at the start of 2027.