Mirra Andreeva, Shnaider take home Miami Open doubles title

After winning the singles titles at the last two WTA 1000 events, Mirra Andreeva added a doubles title at this week’s WTA 1000 event, the Miami Open presented by Itaú.

Andreeva and Diana Shnaider won an all-unseeded doubles final in Miami on Sunday, outlasting Cristina Bucsa and Miyu Kato 6-3, 6-7(5), [10-2]. Andreeva and Shnaider needed 1 hour and 36 minutes of on-court action to prevail — not including a nearly six-hour rain delay in the middle of the match.

Andreeva and Shnaider each picked up the second and highest-level WTA doubles title of their careers. Their first title also came as a pairing, when they teamed up to win WTA 500 Brisbane in January. They also reached the Australian Open semifinals later that month.

On Monday, Andreeva and Shnaider are projected to become the No. 2 doubles team in the PIF Race to the WTA Finals, trailing only the top-ranked team of Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend.

Sunday’s final contained three players who won women’s doubles medals at last year’s Olympics at Roland Garros. Andreeva and Shnaider claimed the silver medal in Paris, while Bucsa earned the bronze medal alongside Sara Sorribes Tormo.

The tandem of Bucsa and Kato got their season going with their performance in Miami. They had been 0-5 as a duo this year, but finally grabbed their first team win of 2025 in the first round. Suddenly, they went on a tear, including an upset of No. 1 seeds Siniakova and Townsend in the semifinals.

But Andreeva and Shnaider refused to let them go all the way to the title. The 17-year-old Andreeva and 20-year-old Shnaider — both ranked inside the Top 15 of the singles rankings as well — battled down to the wire to notch the crown.

Despite being rained off court for almost six hours after the first three games, the early stages of the final were fairly routine for Andreeva and Shnaider, who took a set-and-a-break lead at 6-3, 3-2.

However, deft hands by Bucsa and Kato pulled them back into contention, leading the clash into a second-set tiebreak. Well-timed volley winners by Bucsa and Kato helped them steal the second set in comeback fashion.

But in the decisive match-tiebreak, it was the devastating rally power by Andreeva and Shnaider that took over once again. The Shnaider lefty forehand in particular wore down her opponents in the match-tiebreak, and it was Andreeva who found a forehand passing winner down the line to earn seven championship points at 9-2.

They only needed one: a strong Shnaider serve was followed up by an Andreeva putaway, sending them to their biggest title and near the top of the PIF Race standings.