Mirra Andreeva wins French Open as Russian, 19, crushes Maja Chwalinska’s dream | Tennis | Sport
Mirra Andreeva is the new French Open champion (Image: Getty)
Teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva came of age at Roland Garros, lifting a maiden Grand Slam title with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska. It’s been a little over three years since Andreeva, then aged just 15, burst onto the scene as a wildcard at the Madrid Open. Since then, she claimed five trophies and cracked the top 10. Now, Andreeva has reached the pinnacle of the sport and is a major winner.
Twenty-six years after her coach, former world No. 2 Conchita Martinez, finished runner-up here, Andreeva went one better and claimed the trophy with Martinez cheering her on from her box. It caps off what has been an impressive clay swing for the 19-year-old, and one in which her maturity has shone through.
It has been less than three months since Andreeva’s Indian Wells title defence ended with a disappointing third-round defeat to Katerina Siniakova, in a rollercoaster match which saw the Russian break a racket, ask her team to leave, and swear at the crowd.
And three years ago here, the No. 8 seed avoided a default when she whacked a ball away in frustration during a straight-set defeat to Coco Gauff. But Andreeva has put all of that behind her to become the sport’s newest Grand Slam champion.
The teenager started the clay swing by winning Linz. She reached the semis in Stuttgart, finished runner-up in Madrid, and got to the quarters in Rome. Now, she’s won the French Open.
The draw opened up with Aryna Sabalenka losing in the quarter-finals, while Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, and Elina Svitolina lost even earlier than that. Andreeva did not falter as she capitalised on the opportunity.
It was a nervy start from both players on what was another windy day in Paris. There were four breaks to start the match, but Andreeva moved into a 4-3 lead and claimed a decisive break after back-to-back unforced errors from the qualifier.
Maja Chwalinska had become the first qualifier to compete in the French Open final (Image: Getty)
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All of the tennis started to catch up to Chwalinska, who had openly admitted she was already feeling tired after winning three rounds of qualifying and six matches in the main draw. Andreeva, meanwhile, proved relentless. The Russian broke again, claiming the first set with a backhand winner after just 42 minutes on court.
Chwalinska struggled as the wind picked up, and hit three more unforced errors in the opening game of the second set. The teenager continued her attack, while the world No. 114 faded away and got broken again. By the time it was 0-2 in the second set, Chwalinska had hit more unforced errors than she did in her entire two-hour semi-final contest with Diana Shnaider.
Andreeva still didn’t blink when she found herself trailing 0-40 in the next game. The eighth seed remained composed and shut the door on any hopes of a comeback for Chwalinska, reeling off five points to extend her lead and put herself within touching distance of the trophy.
The teenager looked untouchable as she won four more points in a row to claim another break – her eighth game in a row. The winners kept coming, and she showed no signs of nerves as she then made it 5-0 with her service game.
Chwalinska finally ended the run of games against her, getting on the board in set two to avoid a bagel. And as Andreeva stepped up to serve for the biggest title of her career, she became tense. The 19-year-old looked tight, hitting five unforced errors to get broken.
But Andreeva broke back immediately and wrapped up the final in one hour and 22 minutes to secure her maiden Slam title.
It brings Chwalinska’s incredible run to an end. The world No. 114 had become the second qualifier ever to reach a Grand Slam final, after Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open, and the first here.
The Pole started her campaign almost three weeks ago in the preliminary rounds and won nine matches in a row before falling at the final hurdle.
She is still set to rise almost 100 spots up the rankings to No. 21 in the world. Until now, her best position had been No. 113. The 24-year-old has also earned £1.2million (€1.4million) in prize money. Her entire career earnings before this tournament had been just a fraction of that, at £647,553 ($864,030).
