Mirra Andreeva on the differences between playing at the Italian Open and Madrid

Mirra Andreeva isn’t hanging about after her Madrid Open final defeat, turning her attention quickly to the Italian Open in search of a strong run.

Andreeva came up short against Marta Kostyuk in Madrid, missing out on what would have been her third title of the 2026 WTA season.

The Spaniard had just celebrated her 19th birthday during the WTA 1000 event in Spain, before heading straight into another one in Rome.

And ahead of her opening match at the Italian Open, Andreeva has already pointed out a significant difference between the two tournaments.

Mirra Andreeva highlights differences between Madrid and Italian Open

Andreeva had an incredible run at the Madrid Open, even reaching her second WTA 1000 final. The following week, she turned 19 and now finds herself preparing for a completely different challenge in Rome.

There are a few differences that she noticed between the two events before even taking the court for her opener against Antonia Ruzic.

“Honestly we just had a talk with Conchita [Martinez] on how different it is,” she explained to reporters ahead of her first match at the Italian Open.

“I loved it. I love playing in Madrid.

“Here obviously the conditions are a little bit different.

“Especially today it was raining in the morning or during the night, I’m not sure, and the conditions were heavier, the ball was getting bigger.

“It’s not flying as much, as well.

“You have to be smart to adjust your game to these conditions a little bit, not keep on hitting as hard as you want, and the ball would fly as in Madrid.

Despite making these comments on what is challenging about competing in Rome compared to Madrid, Andreeva started strong with straight sets win over Ruzic (6-2 6-3) helping to build confidence ahead of a Round of 64 tie against Ashlyn Krueger.

Andreeva’s Italian Open draw puts her on a challenging path

Mirra Andreeva has carried her strong early-season form into the clay swing, picking up where she left off at the start of 2026.

She opened her year with a title run in Adelaide on hard courts and quickly added another on clay in Linz.

Through three clay tournaments, she’s put together an impressive 12-2 record, showing consistency across different conditions.

But maintaining that success in Rome could be difficult, given the potential path ahead. The draw has set up some tough matchups for the Russian teenager.

A third-round meeting with Maya Joint could come first, followed by a round-of-16 clash against defending champion Jasmine Paolini, who will have home support behind her.

Coco Gauff may await in the quarterfinals and Aryna Sabalenka could stand between her and another final appearance. In those rounds lies what should be one of Andreeva’s toughest ever runs.

If she does reach back-to-back WTA 1000 finals, it’ll probably be Iga Swiatek or Elena Rybakina waiting for her again. Rybakina was the player who took Andreeva out of last year’s Italian Open in the semi-finals before Swiatek got payback over Rybakina to take home another trophy – although that was after she got past Pegula earlier in the event.

Read more: