Marta Kostyuk wins Madrid Open 2026 title with a 'perfect 10' backflip finish
Madrid Open winner's backflip hailed by gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci
“Congratulations @martakostyuk #perfect10 landing”, posted legendary Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci on her Facebook account after the Ukrainian capped off a remarkable title-winning run at the WTA 1000 Madrid Open with her signature backflip. For the record, Comaneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10 at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
For Kostyuk, ranked and aged 23, her dream run on clay continued with the biggest title of her career when she beat Mirra Andreeva of Russia 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday. She collapsed back onto the clay court and held her hands over her face after converting match point when Andreeva's final shot flew long. After getting to her feet, she did the acrobatic backflip while the crowd cheered.
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The win was Kostyuk's third WTA title, but her second in as many tournaments after she won at Rouen last weekend.
She became only the second player outside of the top 20 to win the Madrid Open, in her third final of an impressive 2026 thus far. Kostyuk beat the fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula and 13th-ranked Linda Noskova en route to the final, her first for a WTA 1000 tournament.
The Ukrainian won when she met Russian Andreeva in Brisbane earlier this year in their only prior meeting, and both have since enjoyed stellar starts to the clay-court swing.
"It feels unbelievable to stand here right now," said Kostyuk, holding the trophy.
"It took me many years to reach this point and the one word I think about right now is consistency – showing up every day no matter how hard it is, no matter how much you love or hate what you do.
"I've been doing that really well (over) the past years I think, so I'm very proud of myself and my team."
The eighth-ranked Andreeva, who turned 19 on Wednesday, congratulated Kostyuk when she spoke to the audience after being awarded her runner-up trophy.
"I would like to congratulate Marta and her team for the win today and for her season," Andreeva said, while Kostyuk clapped. "You have won two tournaments in a row, so congrats."
