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Mirra Andreeva stood bent over, hands covering her face and knees stained with red clay, as she absorbed the reality of finally conquering the mental battle that comes with being a teenage tennis sensation. The 19-year-old Russian clinched her first Grand Slam title Saturday by defeating Poland’s 114th-ranked qualifier Maja Chwalińska 6-3, 6-2 in the French Open women’s singles final.
Since bursting onto the scene at age 15, Andreeva has dreamed of this moment. “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,” she said breathlessly after the match. “The feeling in real life is so much better than in your dreams. I can call myself a Grand Slam champion.”
The biggest obstacle for Andreeva hasn’t been her powerful baseline game but rather the mental challenges and her stubborn nature. “Her attitude is difficult,” said her coach, former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez. “You tell her something, and maybe she’s not open to listening… When she works hard and when she listens and she does everything, she has no limits.”
Andreeva acknowledged this during the trophy ceremony. “I know I can be a tough cookie sometimes and it’s pretty hard to put up with me,” she admitted.
Her victory marked a step beyond Martinez’s own French Open experience; Martinez had lost the 2000 final to Mary Pierce, who presented Andreeva with the winner’s trophy. At 19, Andreeva became the youngest woman to win the clay-court Grand Slam since Monica Seles won her third straight French Open at 18 in 1992.
“You’re so young and talented. It’s so annoying,” Chwalińska told Andreeva after the match.
In a rare moment of self-gratitude, Andreeva thanked herself for the belief and effort through the toughest times. “Only I know how tough it was for me,” she said, recalling the nervousness she felt over the two-week tournament. She also credited her psychologist, who was following the event from Florida. “Everything that you’ve told me I’ve been trying to use these two weeks.”
Chwalińska, aiming to be the first qualifier to win Roland Garros, opened up about her struggles with depression since 2019. Once a promising junior alongside four-time champion Iga Swiatek, she reflected on the pressures young tennis players face. “Tennis is such a tough sport. It’s so individual. We start so early. We are basically kids when we start… People are expecting that we are going to behave like adults already and we are just kids really. So the pressure is huge.”
Born in Siberia, Andreeva moved to Sochi and later France to nurture her tennis career. At the trophy presentation, she earned applause on Court Philippe-Chatrier by thanking the crowd in French. “Thanks for your support today and over these past two marvelous weeks here in Paris. It was very important for me,” she said.
Andreeva first captured attention at 15 during the 2023 Madrid Open, where she became the third-youngest player to win a main draw match at a WTA 1000 and reached the quarterfinals. Lately, she has had to compete under neutral status without her country’s flag due to the war in Ukraine. When she defeated Marta Kostyuk in the semifinals, Kostyuk refused to shake her hand, a stance Ukrainian players have taken against Russians since 2022. “Every person doesn’t want to have a war in the world,” Andreeva said. “I never think about those things when I play.”
The final unfolded under mostly sunny skies, but wind was a factor for both first-time Grand Slam finalists. Chwalińska double-faulted on the opening point but broke serve to lead 3-2. Then Andreeva dominated, winning nine straight games as she figured out how to hit through the wind and counter Chwalińska’s spins and drop shots.
While Chwalińska tended to retreat on high balls in the wind, Andreeva took the ball early and moved forward aggressively. “She definitely handled wind much better than me,” Chwalińska admitted. “She was not running away from the ball.”
Andreeva finished with 25 winners to Chwalińska’s 10 and had fewer unforced errors, 26 to 29.
Polish fans filled the crowd, waving red-and-white flags and chanting “Ma-ja, Ma-ja” when Chwalińska was introduced. Andreeva received little support from the crowd, though a shout of “Davai, Mirra!” (“Go, Mirra”) rang out late in the match.
Sunday’s men’s final will feature Alexander Zverev facing Flavio Cobolli, capping what has been one of the most unpredictable Grand Slams in recent memory.