Mirra Andreeva will climb to a new career-high of No 3 in the WTA Rankings next week after reaching the final of the China Open with a straight-sets win over Nikola Bartunkova.
Reigning French Open champion Andreeva started the Beijing event at No 5 in the rankings, but she was already assured of reaching No 4 – overtaking Coco Gauff – following her quarter-final win over Ekaterina Alexandrova.
And she is now guaranteed to climb another spot to No 3 – this time moving ahead of Jessica Pegula – after beating Bartunkova 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-final of the WTA 1000 tournament.
The 19-year-old is the youngest player to reach the top three since a 17-year-old Maria Sharapova achieved the feat in 2005.
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Andreeva had 5,841 points ahead of the China Open and had only 120 points to defend, while fourth-placed Gauff dropped 1,390 and Pegula 1,040.
Once those points were removed, the Russian was on 5,721, Gauff on 5,954 and Pegula on 6,225. Gauff lost in the fourth round and finished the tournament on 5,974 while Pegula missed the event so remained on 6,225.
With Andreeva going on to reach the final, she has moved to 6,371 points in the Live WTA Rankings while a title run will see her finish on 6,721 with second-placed Aryna Sabalenka within her sights on 7,485.
The 19-year-old is into her fourth WTA 1000 final as she won the Dubai Tennis Championships and Indian Wells Open in 2025 while she finished runner-up at this year’s Madrid Open.
The teenager will face either Elise Mertens – who beat third seed Gauff and eighth seed Iga Swiatek – or local star Zheng Qinwen in the final.
Andreeva has already qualified for the season-ending WTA Finals as she will join Elena Rybakina, Sabalenka, Pegula, Gauff and Linda Noskova in the field with two places still up for grabs.
The youngster’s surge to No 3 comes on the back of winning the French Open – beating Maja Chwalinska in the final – the Adelaide International and Linz Open this year while she also lost the Madrid showpiece match against Marta Kostyuk.
Fellow rising star Bartunkova also finished the China Open with a new rankings milestone as she has broken into the top 30 for the first time in her career. The 20-year-old has moved up six places in the Live WTA Rankings to No 28.
The Czech only made her WTA 1000 debut at the Italian Open in May and reached the quarter-final and now five months later she has reached a semi-final.
