Andreeva Digs Deep to Outlast Noskova in Brisbane
Mirra Andreeva rallies from match points down against rival Linda Noskova in a late-night Brisbane thriller, setting up a quarterfinal clash with Marta Kostyuk after her upset of Amanda Anisimova.
Under the glare of Pat Rafter Arena’s lights, past 11:30 p.m. in humid Brisbane air, Mirra Andreeva turned exhaustion into escape. The 18-year-old saved two match points to defeat Linda Noskova 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 in the Brisbane International third round, capping a 2-hour, 23-minute grind that began nine hours earlier with warm-ups delayed by marathon wins from Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula. This marked their sixth meeting in 24 months, the third on these Queensland hard courts, where Noskova’s early aggression tested Andreeva’s resolve from the baseline.
Rivalry ignites with backhand fire
Noskova struck first with flat groundstrokes that skimmed low off the surface, her heavy topspin forehands pulling Andreeva side to side in crosscourt rallies. Andreeva absorbed the pressure, breaking for 4-3 in the third set only to surrender the lead with a double fault and loose errors, staring down double match point at 5-4 on serve. In that tense pocket of the decider, she fired a backhand down the line to erase one threat, followed by an ace to snuff the second, the crowd’s energy surging with each point.
“All those bullets and rockets that she sent,” Andreeva marvelled afterwards. “I’m going to be honest, I did not expect that she would play this aggressive starting from the very beginning. I’m happy that I maintained the level of my game, and I felt I played even better close to the end of the match.”
Seizing the shift, Andreeva broke back with another backhand winner down the line, her slice disrupting Noskova’s rhythm on the pacey hard courts. She sealed the first match point with yet another backhand laser, exploiting the Czech’s weaker wing in prolonged exchanges. This victory stands as her first top-20 win since Emma Navarro at Wimbledon last July and her initial escape from match point down since Olga Danilovic in the 2024 Iasi semifinals, a nod to her sharpening mental edge amid the tour’s demanding starts.
Kostyuk reverses the underdog script
Across the draw, Marta Kostyuk channeled quiet confidence into control, stunning No. 2 seed Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals. The No. 26-ranked Ukrainian, eyeing a top-10 breakthrough in 2026 after a uneven prior year, now leads their head-to-head 3-1, with Anisimova’s sole win a narrow Doha affair last year. On these medium-paced courts, Kostyuk’s 16 winners—including six aces—overpowered the American’s second serve, claiming 68% of those points through aggressive returns and one-two patterns.
From a 3-1 edge in the second set, she steadied after Anisimova leveled at 3-3, mixing flat backhand drives with slice approaches to force errors in rallies. Saving five of six break points highlighted her serve placement, targeting down the line to Anisimova’s return side and shortening points against the flat-hitting American. This marked her third career top-3 victory, transforming a recent practice session where Anisimova dominated into on-court dominance.
“I practised with Amanda a week ago, and she absolutely destroyed me in practise,” Kostyuk revealed. “And she had an amazing last year, and I didn’t have the best season last year, so I’m very happy to start like this.”
Quarterfinal probes fresh dynamics
Now Andreeva faces Kostyuk for the first time, blending the Russian’s clutch backhand precision with the Ukrainian’s serving firepower on Brisbane’s grippy hard courts. Andreeva’s late elevation could target Kostyuk’s forehand in crosscourt exchanges, while Kostyuk might rush the net to disrupt Andreeva’s baseline rhythm with inside-in forehands. The surface’s true bounce rewards tactical variety—topspin layers against flat power—setting up a test of endurance after Andreeva’s long wait and Kostyuk’s clean efficiency.
For both, this clash carries the weight of early-season momentum, where a win accelerates rankings climbs toward the Australian Open. Andreeva’s resilience under late-night pressure pairs with Kostyuk’s upset hunger, promising geometry of shots that could redefine their paths in a WTA field hungry for hardcourt edges. As the tournament builds, their encounter hints at the psychological depths young talents plumb to claim breakthroughs.
Read more at WTA Tennis.
