Marta Kostyuk, the No. 23 in the world, has won the first Masters 1000 of her career by beating 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the final on the red clay of Madrid. The Ukrainian was riding an unprecedented 10-match winning streak on clay, and she did not falter on the biggest stage. The initial set was easily won 6-3. Andreeva retaliated in the second, leading 3-1, yet Kostyuk immediately responded and sealed the set 7-5. 

The title run of Kostyuk was among the most powerful in the recent memory of Madrid. She defeated the fifth seed Jessica Pegula in the round of 32, and went on to beat the 13th seed Linda Noskova in the quarterfinals, and lost only one set throughout the whole tournament. In the case of Andreeva, the final step was one too far – but the way she was treated in the immediate aftermath was soon a story in itself. 

The 19-year-old, who was crying, was sitting courtside a few seconds after the last point and had a towel over her face. She had just lost the biggest final of her nascent career. She had to take a break. Instead, she received a WTA communications staff member who came up to her nearly right away, seemingly in an attempt to inform her about the upcoming trophy ceremony – logistics, presentation order, what to do next. The images circulated quickly. So did the reaction.

Former Australian tennis player Renna Stubbs was direct. “The WTA comms person going up to Mirra and trying to tell her stuff about the presentation and blah blah blah while she’s crying in her towel one minute after she lost. Oh my god, honey, please give her a minute!”

Stephanie Myles, one of the sport’s most prominent tennis journalists, captured the absurdity of the moment with a single line: “Poor Andreeva multitasking: crying, texting, and listening to the WTA PR telling her what’s next with the trophy ceremony.”

The blame is not on the specific employee of the organization, who was certainly carrying out an order that was passed down the chain of command. It is knowingly addressed to an institutional mindset that places more emphasis on ceremony logistics than plain human decency at a time when all that was needed was patience. A 19-year-old had just lost a Masters 1000 final in tears. The presentation can be delayed for a few minutes. 

Andreeva wrote out her score, took the award of second place, and conducted herself with the dignity she has shown all week. The optics of the WTA at that point, though, were considerably less than composed.