Mirra Andreeva’s place in the WTA Finals seemed a sure thing earlier this year…
When Andreeva won the Dubai Tennis Championships and Indian Wells back-to-back, she rose to number three in the ‘Live WTA Race’.
She looked set to qualify for her maiden WTA Finals, barring a drastic drop in form.
Unfortunately for Andreeva, that’s exactly what happened, as she began to struggle, especially after the clay-court season finished.
Losing her opening matches in Wuhan and Ningbo, the Russian’s WTA Finals hopes hung by a thread.
When Elena Rybakina advanced to the semifinals in Tokyo, she confirmed her place in Riyadh at the expense of Andreeva.
Winning two WTA 1000 titles and failing to qualify for the year-end finals, Andreeva matched an unwanted record in 2025.
Mirra Andreeva becomes the first player to win two WTA 1000s and not qualify for WTA Finals in nine years
Andreeva has missed out on WTA Finals qualification by six points, with Jasmine Paolini now occupying the final spot.
| Rank | Name | Country | Points | 2025 WTA 1000 titles | Status |
| 1 | Aryna Sabalenka | Belarus | 9,990 | 2 (Miami Open, Madrid Open) | Qualified |
| 2 | Iga Swiatek | Poland | 8,303 | 1 (Cincinnati Open) | Qualified |
| 3 | Coco Gauff | USA | 6,573 | 1 (Wuhan Open) | Qualified |
| 4 | Amanda Anisimova | USA | 5,897 | 2 (Qatar Open, China Open) | Qualified |
| 5 | Jessica Pegula | USA | 5,183 | – | Qualified |
| 6 | Madison Keys | USA | 4,395 | – | Qualified |
| 7 | Elena Rybakina | Kazakhstan | 4,350 | – | Qualified |
| 8 | Jasmine Paolini | Italy | 4,325 | 1 (Italian Open) | Qualified |
| 9 | Mirra Andreeva | Russia | 4,319 | 2 (Dubai Tennis Championships, Indian Wells) | Failed to qualify |
| 10 | Ekaterina Alexandrova | Russia | 3,375 | – | Failed to qualify |
The last player to win multiple WTA 1000 titles in a year and fail to qualify for the WTA Finals was Victoria Azarenka in 2016.
However, the circumstances around Azarenka’s 2016 season were very different, as she finished her season early, announcing her pregnancy in July.
| Rank | Name | Country | Points | 2016 WTA 1000 titles | Status |
| 1 | Angelique Kerber | Germany | 8,000 | – | Qualified |
| 2 | Serena Williams | USA | 7,050 | 1 (Italian Open) | Qualified |
| 3 | Agnieszka Radwanska | Poland | 4,975 | 1 (China Open) | Qualified |
| 4 | Simona Halep | Romania | 4,728 | 2 (Madrid Open, Canadian Open) | Qualified |
| 5 | Karolina Pliskova | Czechia | 4,100 | 1 (Cincinnati Open) | Qualified |
| 6 | Garbine Muguruza | Spain | 3,736 | – | Qualified |
| 7 | Madison Keys | USA | 3,637 | – | Qualified |
| 8 | Dominika Cibulkova | Slovakia | 3,625 | – | Qualified |
| 9 | Svetlana Kuznetsova | Russia | 3,490 | – | Failed to qualify |
| 10 | Johanna Konta | Russia | 3,455 | – | Failed to qualify |
| 11 | Carla Suarez Navarro | Spain | 3,170 | 1 (Qatar Open) | Failed to qualify |
| 12 | Victoria Azarenka | Belarus | 3,061 | 2 (Indian Wells, Miami Open) | Failed to qualify |
| 13 | Petra Kvitova | Czechia | 2,840 | 1 (Wuhan Open) | Failed to qualify |
| 14 | Elina Svitolina | Ukraine | 2,456 | – | Failed to qualify |
| 15 | Venus Williams | USA | 2,241 | – | Failed to qualify |
Andreeva will want to forget about the second half of her 2025 campaign as soon as possible, where her form deserted her.
She may, however, be concerned about what is to come in 2026, as she will need to recover her level quickly, or risk a big rankings drop…
Mirra Andreeva will defend over half of her points between January and March
Andreeva started 2025 brilliantly, earning herself an impressive 2,445 points by the middle of March.
- Brisbane International (Lost in SF) – 195 points
- Australian Open (Lost in 4R) – 240 points
- Qatar Open (Lost in 2R) – 10 points
- Dubai Tennis Championships (Winner) – 1,000 points
- Indian Wells (Winner) – 1,000 points
Unfortunately for Andreeva, that means she has a lot of work to do when the new year begins.
If she were to drop those 2,445 points, she could fall to as low as 22nd in the world rankings.
For someone who no doubt has dreams of winning Grand Slam titles and reaching number one in the world, that would be a disaster.
Therefore, she and coach Conchita Martinez must work hard in the off-season to prepare her in the best way possible.
Only time will tell how Andreeva will perform in 2026, but it will certainly be interesting to see if she can rediscover the form that saw her win two WTA 1000 titles earlier this year.
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