Mirra Andreeva defeats Maja Chwalinska to win the French Open, who is Mirra Andreeva, Roland Garros results, news, analysis

Long touted as a generational talent, Mirra Andreeva claimed her maiden grand slam title in stunning fashion at Roland Garros with a dominant triumph over surprise Polish finalist Maja Chwalinska in Paris on Saturday.

The 19-year-old confirmed the promise that saw her identified as a prospective major champion in her early teens with a mature performance in tricky conditions against an even trickier opponent to win 6-3 6-2.

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This Roland Garros has been beset by upsets and stunning episodes, with world No.1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka ousted in stunning fashion and a men’s semi-final between Matteo Arnaldi and Flavio Cobolli called off due to illness.

A win by Chwalinska, who has never been ranked inside the top 100, would have been the biggest stunner of all but instead victory goes to a young sensation who appears capable of adding more major titles now she has broken through.

“I still cannot believe that I’m doing a press conference with a Grand Slam trophy by my side,” she said.

“It’s been one of my biggest dreams in my life, and I’m just super happy that I was able to give my best and win the match and win this tournament.

“I’ll be honest. I’ve done a lot of visualizations before. Not just this tournament but … I’ve had dreams, I’ve had a lot of thoughts on how it’s going to happen, if it’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, where.

“I would say that the feeling in real life is so much better, obviously, than in your dreams. Yeah, it just feels looking at this trophy and realising that this is actually true, and I can call myself a Grand Slam champion, I guess.”

A semi-finalilst in Paris two years ago, Andreeva’s intoxicating mix of sweet timing on her groundstrokes, good hands at the net and strong court coverage enabled her to excel on the clay courts again in Paris this year.

A precocious talent who clinched Premier tier titles in Dubai and Indian Wells last year, Andreeva had been beset on occasion at grand slam level by the emotional ebbs and flows that can stymie even hardened veterans, let alone teenagers.

Pitted against local wildcard Lois Boisson in a quarterfinal last year, she lost control of her emotions when playing in front of a heavily partisan crowd. But a year is a long time in tennis and she had been in superb form throughout the fortnight.

Even when striding through the press room between warm-up sessions, as several players at Roland Garros do to shorten the journey from the locker room, she appeared bouyant and at ease with the world. And it showed on the court.

Andreeva, who is coached by former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, dropped just one set at Roland Garros, that coming against Marina Bassols Ribera in the second round. But she rebounded to win the last two sets 6-1 6-1.

That defied the upset trend that ended the campaigns of stars including defending champion Coco Gauff, the world No.1 Sabalenka and other contenders, with Andreeva dropping no more than six games in any other match. She was dominant.

“As you mentioned, I feel like I did handle my nerves a little bit better these two weeks,” she said.

“I mean, the beginning of the tournament was very tricky, though. I’m not going to lie. Obviously, I’ve had some emotional matches and some emotional moments on the court as well.

“I’ve actually talked to my psychologist before the semifinal match and before the final match, because I thought that it would help me be in the right state of mind before these, I would say, most important matches of my life. So I wanted to prepare my best.

“She gave me a lot of advices and a lot of, you know, techniques that I could try and use on the court to help myself to experience all of these things a little bit better and easier. That’s why, you know, I think that she deserves a lot of credit for this.”

Very little separated the pair initially in a match that began in challenging conditions.

A tournament that saw players melt in stifling heat in the first week had become the site of sandstorms through second week as gusting wind swept clay from the courts and the flags billowing on the grand stands demonstrated it would be a factor.

After exchanging service breaks in the infancy of the final, Chwalinska was the first to buck the trend with her swinging left-handed delivery, but the teenager Andreeva was able to lift the quality of her serve as well.

The 19-year-old made a decisive move in the first set when securing another service break at 3-all, with the quality of shotmaking ultimately overwhelming the qualifier. Neither the wind, nor her opponent’s obstinance, blew her off course.

Her patience was a virtue. Chwalinska scrambled superbly, but Andreeva waited her out and did not go for too much, instead constructing the points with control and power before seizing the initiative at the right moment.

When she whipped a backhand winner crosscourt to break her rival to love, the first set was hers after 42 minutes.

The 19-year-old, who moved from Siberia to France after displaying immense promise to further her aspirations, continued to dominate on the big stage in a blistering start to the second set.

She survived a challenge on serve at 2-0 and flourished further as she closed on the finishing line in the mark of a champion.

Chwalinska strived with all she had to stay with the right-hander, who is growing into her frame and now boasts considerable firepower to match her smarts on the court, and was able to hold serve to end a run of nine straight games at 5-0.

The left-hander, who was attempting to become the first qualifier to win a major since Emma Raducanu’s remarkable run at the US Open in 2021, kept alive her hopes when breaking Andreeva in the following game.

But the right-hander, who was dressed in all pink, was not rattled by the resistance of her rival and closed out a memorable maiden championship by breaking serve to hold to love, closing out the triumph with a backhand winner.

“Maja, she’s been playing amazing for three weeks. I think that it’s very, very hard to pass quallies and to go all the way to the finals playing on a very high level,” Andreeva said.

“Obviously, I was very nervous because I’ve never played against her. So I kind of knew her game style of what Conchita told me, but it’s very different when you play an opponent that you’ve never played before, especially in the final of a Grand Slam.

“Obviously I was very nervous and I also think that the conditions today were very, very hard, very tricky, because a lot of wind that is blowing, you know, both directions. I couldn’t understand at some point which way the wind was going.

“I’m just happy that I’ve dealt with these conditions and adjusted to the conditions maybe a little bit faster than she did.”

Chwalinska, who will surge up the rankings but awaits news as to whether she will be forced to play qualifying at Wimbledon given her current ranking of 114 does not provide direct entry, said it had been an “unforgettable three weeks” in Paris.

Remarkably given her run from the opening round of qualifying to final, which saw her pocket A$2.28 million, the 24-year-old said she did not feel like she had played her best tennis throughout her stint at Roland Garros, which she described as “weird”.

“It’s such a huge jump all of a sudden, but really it’s been, I mean, (it is) 18 years of hard work and patience and, you know, perseverance. I had to go through so much to be in this place, in this position,” she said.

“So, you know, life’s weird sometimes, and you just gotta kind of do your thing and believe that it will click someday, and I’m happy that it did. I know many, many great players that are ranked outside top 100.

“It’s such a thin line now. I feel like a lot of things need to click. But, for sure, there are so many great players. I wish them all the best. I hope that my story these last days were inspiring for them. I’ll see them in the, let’s say, top 50 now.”