Many had doubted Elina Svitolina following the one-sided 6-4, 6-0 defeat to Mirra Andreeva in her first match at the WTA Finals. Arriving at the tournament after splitting from her husband, Gael Monfils, it was believed that the situation had taken a toll on her and her game. But the Ukrainian shut down all of her doubters by winning the next three matches, which secured her a place in the final. She will be facing the 19-year-old for the second time in the event.

Svitolina racked up a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 victory against Linda Noskova in the semifinals. The 32-year-old booked her place in the knockouts following wins over Karolina Muchova and Aryna Sabalenka. She now appears to be at the top of her game, but will face a stern test in the final against Andreeva. Svitolina is aware that she will have to prepare well if she wants to end her season on a high.

“It’s gonna be another big challenge, of course,” she said during her on-court interview. “I feel that I have to do my homework, to work on a few things here and there. I feel I’m a completely different player from the first match. I think I was not playing the right way. I will give it the best shot. Just gonna leave everything. Tomorrow it’s the last match of the season, finally. So, it’s gonna be fun.”

65 minutes was all it took for Svitolina to defeat Noskova. The veteran dominated from the get-go and didn’t drop a set, unlike in her previous matches against Muchova and Sabalenka, respectively. She converted five of the ten break-point opportunities she got to reach her third final at the year-end tournament.

Having lifted the title in 2018, Svitolina will become just the 11th player to win it twice if she goes on to defeat Andreeva. But it certainly won’t be an easy task, as the Russian has arguably been the best player of the tournament so far. She is yet to drop a set and made her way to the final by defeating Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-4. Her previous triumphs over Svitolina, Sabalenka, and Diana Shnaider were pretty one-sided as well.

The upcoming encounter will be the third time Svitolina and Andreeva will come face-to-face on the Tour. The latter leads the H2H record 2-1. She suffered a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Svitolina earlier this year in the Round of 16 at the Australian Open, but got her revenge at the WTA Finals. Notably, Andreeva was denied a handshake by the Ukrainian after the match as she maintained her stance of not doing the customary handshake with Russian players. It remains to be seen if the same will happen in the final as well.

Interestingly, both Svitolina and Andreeva would join elite lists if they win the final. While Svitolina could become one of the eldest players to ever win the year-end tournament, Andreeva could become one of the youngest.

History beckons for both Elina Svitolina and Mirra Andreeva at the WTA Finals

Svitolina is the oldest player to reach the final of the WTA Finals since Venus Williams in 2017. She is also the fourth player to do so after turning 32, joining greats like Martina Navratilova, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams.

The Ukrainian would become the second oldest player to win the WTA Finals title if she defeats Andreeva on Sunday. She would only fall behind Serena, who won the title at the age of 33 in 2014. Having previously lost the final of the tournament in 2019 against Ashleigh Barty, Svitolina would want to put the painful history behind her and focus solely on defeating Andreeva.

On the other hand, Andreeva could also join the company of greats if she lifts the WTA Finals title. She has already broken Serena’s record as the youngest player to win her first three matches at the WTA Finals. The Russian would become one of the youngest players to win the title if she defeats Svitolina.

The youngest player to achieve the feat is Monica Seles, who did so at the age of just 16. The other teenagers to win the tournament include Tracy Austin, Chris Evert, Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini, Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova. It would be a huge achievement for Andreeva if she goes on to join the company of these greats on Sunday.