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Mirra Andreeva lived up to the hype and came of age by sealing her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open at the age of 19.
Eighth seed Andreeva ended the run of 114th-ranked Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska with a 6-3 6-2 victory at Roland-Garros.
The Russian became the youngest player to win the women’s singles title since Monica Seles, who was 18 when she landed her third straight French Open in 1992.
Chwalinska was attempting to become the first qualifier to capture the title in Paris.
Russia’s Andreeva, who lives and trains in France, may not have had the majority of the crowd behind her – perhaps in part because of the political landscape and perhaps because of her opponent’s underdog status – but there is no doubt she is a phenomenal talent and a worthy Grand Slam champion.
When a final winner landed in the corner, Andreeva, who is also the first Russian female grand slam singles champion since Maria Sharapova here in 2014, dropped to her knees in celebration.
“You’re a very tricky opponent. Wouldn’t want to play you one more time. No, it’s okay. I hope we play many more finals in the future,” Andreeva said during the trophy ceremony.
“It was a big dream of mine to win this tournament. I can’t believe that I’m holding this trophy.”
Andreeva added, “I want to thank myself for believing in myself, giving 100 per cent even when it’s been tough, trying every day to be better as a person and a player, believing I can do this, fighting so many demons inside of me.
“Only I know how tough it was for me and how nervous I was these past two weeks, so thanks to me for working so hard and giving my best.”
Attention ahead of the match had understandably been dominated by the remarkable run from qualifying to the final of 24-year-old Pole Chwalinska, who vast swathes of those in attendance appeared to be supporting.
Nine successive victories put her one win away from matching Emma Raducanu’s unprecedented achievement in New York in 2021.
Chwalinska is no teenage dreamer, though, having battled away on the lower reaches of the tour for years, including struggling with depression, without ever making the top 100 or beating a top-50 player.
She arrived in Paris in good form but not even in her most fanciful moments could she have imagined how things would play out over the next three weeks.
Four successive victories over top-50 players, including Andreeva’s doubles partner Diana Shnaider in the last four, made Chwalinska at 114 in the world, the lowest-ranked finalist since the inception of the rankings in 1975.
She will climb to 21 on Monday, and Wimbledon organisers will look churlish in the extreme if they do not give her a wild card for a tournament where she would now be seeded.
Sky Sports
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