LOS ANGELES: French Open champion Mirra Andreeva beat American Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the WTA Finals championship match in Indian Wells, California.
With the semifinal win the 19-year-old Russian — who won her maiden major at Roland Garros this year — is assured of rising from third to second in the world rankings.
On Sunday she will face either Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova or Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina for the title in the elite season-ending event, which was moved from Saudi Arabia to California in July because of war in the Middle East.
Andreeva remained unbeaten in her WTA Finals singles debut, having posted round robin victories over sixth-ranked Svitolina, world number two Aryna Sabalenka and Diana Shnaider.
She’s the youngest player to make the final since a 17-year-old Maria Sharapova in 2004 and joined Serena Williams and Chris Evert as the only players to win their first four matches in the event in straight sets.
“I think I can be very proud of myself,” she told Tennis Channel. “I’m very happy with how I’m playing. I’m very happy also with how I deal with the pressure. I knew this match had a lot on the line.”
For Pegula it was a match of missed chances, the fifth-ranked American unable to build on early breaks in both…
