Andreeva holds off Baptiste in Madrid Open semis, in-form Kostyuk awaits in final

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andreeva-mirra/lI6fOOat/"]Andreeva[/a], who turned 19 on Wednesday, will ‌face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kostyuk-marta/8CZqQdSa/"]Marta Kostyuk[/a] in the ‌final of the clay-court tournament, with the Ukrainian beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/potapova-anastasia/x81l09qG/"]Anastasia Potapova[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/kostyuk-m-8CZqQdSa/potapova-a-x81l09qG/?mid=rBZXyHf5"]6-2, 1-6, 6-1[/a] in the second semi-final.[/p][p][b]"I feel so much ‌adrenaline inside, I feel like I'm still nervous," [/b]Andreeva said in her post-match interview.[/p][p][b]"Honestly, I'm just so happy that I ‌won... I'm very happy with how ⁠I served today."[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/baptiste-hailey/Cjagsdf4/"]Baptiste[/a] had ‌shocked world number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] in the quarter-finals, but ​the 24-year-old struggled as ninth seed Andreeva conceded only two points on serve in the first ​set.[/p][embed guid="b511149b-6e55-416f-b7d0-9bff94bd0f0c" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHqiR09TOXQ&pp=ygUDd3Rh" social-type="youtube" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/andreeva-m-lI6fOOat/baptiste-h-Cjagsdf4/?mid=C6oatd43"]The American stood firm until the seventh game[/a], when Baptiste's forehand landed wide, handing Andreeva a break point. ⁠The former French ​Open semi-finalist sent a perfect backhand down the line to earn the decisive break that sealed the set.[/p][p]Baptiste, who made 16 unforced errors in the first set, continued ‌to struggle in the second, handing Andreeva a break for a 3-2 lead.[/p][p]But the American fended off a match point in the ninth game before Andreeva, serving for the set, double-faulted and botched a smash before Baptiste landed two perfect winners to get her first break of the match, making it 5-5.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="cd608bbe-68a0-4cf4-8991-0274c4ad59eb" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="fd3c0f27-5f27-4443-bc1f-8cad1f54b8b5" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The second set reached a tiebreak, and a newly confident ‌Baptiste won four points straight before Andreeva fought back ​with precise backhands near the sidelines and saved ‌three set points.[/p][p]Baptiste fired down an ace to save a match point, but hit a return long as Andreeva clinched victory, reaching the final of a WTA 1000 tournament for the third time after ⁠winning the Dubai ⁠Championships and the Indian ‌Wells Open last year.[/p][h2]Kostyuk overcomes Potapova[/h2][p]Later in the day, Kostyuk beat Potapova in a topsy-turvy affair to reach her first-ever WTA 1000 final and continue her fine form. [/p][p]The 23-year-old has now won 11 matches on the spin, a run that includes claiming the Rouen title earlier in the month.[/p][embed guid="dd3af890-8077-44e6-a40b-d2b73ba589a5" url="https://x.com/MutuaMadridOpen/status/2049968416350413227" social-type="twitter" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/andreeva-m-lI6fOOat/kostyuk-m-8CZqQdSa/?mid=G2C8Zjae"]Follow the women's final in Madrid with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]