DUBAI: Teenager Mirra Andreeva toppled another seed at the Dubai Championships, upsetting Elena Rybakina on Friday to become the youngest player to reach the final of a WTA 1000 tournament.

The Russian 17-year-old fought back from 1-3 down in the deciding set to beat seventhseeded Rybakina 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and move into the first WTA 1000 final of her career.

Andreeva is the youngest player to beat multiple Grand Slam champions at a tour-nament of this level having ousted Iga Swiatek, Marketa Vondrousova, and now Rybalcina, en route to the final.

The players had met once before, in Beijing in 2023, when Rybalcina won in three sets.

`Last time we played it was a really tough match and I had a lot of opportunities and she as a really experienced player just didn`t give me a chance and went for her shots and killed me in the end,` saidAndreeva.

`I knew she was going to hit hard and hit big serves. I just tried to accept when things didn`t go my way. I fought for every point and kept believing and in the end it went my way.`Andreeva will rise to a career-high number 11 in the world by virtue of reaching the final and could become the first 17-year-old to break the top 10 since Nicole Vaidisova achieved that feat in 2007 if she lifts the trophy on Saturday.-AFP