Mirra Andreeva arrived at the Adelaide final day juggling match preparation and a small personal debate. “It’s going to be very entertaining,” she said of the championship match, but immediately after her semifinal she admitted she was torn over how to unwind: “It’s like a chocolate fondant with pistachio sauce inside. And I’m debating whether I should go and have the dessert, or whether I should just should stay in the room and watch some Netflix.”

Whatever she chose, the 18-year-old world No. 8 understood the task ahead. She will meet 19-year-old Victoria Mboko for the title, a first meeting since their junior days. Andreeva, the No. 3 seed who advanced by brushing aside her former doubles partner Diana Shnaider, is contesting a title match for the first time since Indian Wells.

Andreeva offered a measured assessment of her opponent: “I felt like she’s been playing well, and she’s been raising her level tournament to tournament. I know that she likes to take the ball early. She likes to be aggressive on the court. She likes to dictate the point as well. She has a great serve.”

Mboko has arrived in Adelaide on the back of a breakthrough 2025 season. She earned WTA Newcomer of the Year after climbing more than 300 places into the year-end Top 20 and captured her first tour-level crown, a WTA 1000 title in Montreal. The Canadian then added a second WTA triumph in Hong Kong to finish the season.

“Seeing her uprise, I think it’s motivating for me and I think a lot of young girls out there who want to play at this level of tennis,” Mboko said of Andreeva. “Yeah, it’s just a nice thing to see. She’s a super nice girl, and we’re quite good friends off the court.”

Mboko, the eighth seed in Adelaide, improved to 5-1 on the young season after dismissing Kimberly Birrell and said the extra court hours can help: “I think having that many hours on court can help you. It can help me in the next round, being in difficult situations, and just generally improving throughout the tournament.”

Andreeva, visibly eager for the match, added: “Honestly, if I could have played tonight, I would have played. Because, I don’t know, for some reason I’m so excited to go on court tomorrow. I’m just happy to share the final with Vicky.”

Victoria Mboko continued her string of three-set battles at the start of 2026, producing back-to-back wins in Adelaide to advance toward the semifinals. “Maybe I can try to find some straight-set wins soon.” The 19-year-old has now played five matches this year and all five have gone the distance. She is 4-1 in deciders to begin the season.

Mboko split her opening two matches at the United Cup before arriving at the WTA 500 in Adelaide. On Wednesday she saved a pair of match points to beat Anna Kalinskaya and keep her run alive. The following day she produced her biggest result of the stretch by defeating the defending champion, No. 2 seed Madison Keys, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

In the final set Mboko did not face a break point and won half of her return points to pull away from the reigning Australian Open champion. “She hits a pretty strong ball, and all I was thinking in that moment was just to try to stay low and try to redirect as much as I could, and try to either make her miss first or have a good opportunity to take control,” Mboko assessed during a press conference Thursday.

The world No. 17 is seeking a third career trophy. She captured her maiden WTA title on home soil last August at the 1000-level event in Montreal and finished 2025 with a title in Hong Kong. Local hopeful Kimberly Birrell, the player Mboko defeated at the start of that seven-match run, awaits in the semifinals.

As the eighth seed, Mboko can move into the Top 15 by winning the title this week. “I’m expecting a big fight tomorrow. She also has the crowd advantage, so that’s good for her,” she said. “But I’m going to just go in the match like I do every other match, and just stay right in there, try to play my game, and just have fun on court.”

Mboko reflected on the rapid change in her career over the last year. “I kind of had to adjust and adapt very quickly from playing ITFs to suddenly playing on the WTA tour full. Often playing top players, you have to get used to all of that,” she reflected. “So I’m glad I can kind of get a deep run in this tournament, and try to set the tone for the start of this year.” At this time a year ago she was ranked No. 337.

Thansai Kokkinakis returned to singles competition with a hard-fought victory at the Adelaide International, the tournament where he recorded his first ATP title. The 29-year-old prevailed against two-time finalist Sebastian Korda, edging a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) win in his first singles match since facing Jack Draper at last year’s Australian Open.

Last week Kokkinakis tested the waters after pectoral surgery in February 2025 by playing doubles with Nick Kyrgios in Brisbane. On Monday he converted that preparation into a singles triumph but could not fully enjoy the result because of persistent right-shoulder trouble that dates back to his first surgery in 2015.

“After 12 months of rehab I really wanted to start here. Ideally the tournament would have been probably a few weeks later, just to give myself a little bit more prep,” Kokkinakis said. “But, yeah, it’s my favorite tournament in the world. It’s something I’ll never forget eventually when I hang up the racquets, and not taking these moments for granted, that’s for sure.”

Despite the win, the former champion admitted the match left him uneasy. Before mounting his comeback in the second set, Kokkinakis said he was “very close” to throwing in the towel. “It’s tough. It puts a dampener on the win, honestly. I felt like I was in autopilot mode,” he explained. “Usually I would be celebrating and probably yelling by the end of it. Obviously I’m happy that I won, but most of my focus is to how my arm is going to be.

“I need to go through these matches to see if I have a chance at AO.”

Next up is a meeting with last year’s surprise Shanghai champion Valentin Vacherot, a first-time encounter. Kokkinakis struck a pragmatic tone about the days ahead: “I feel like I know what tomorrow’s looking like for me, and I don’t love it. I’m going to do everything I can in 48 hours to see if I can give myself a chance on Wednesday,” he asserted.