Source : the age
One fairytale ended, but another special story might be just getting started.
Mirra Andreeva is the new queen of Roland-Garros’ clay, transforming a compelling opening to the women’s final into a 6-3, 6-2 stampede that prevented Pole Maja Chwalinska from becoming the tournament’s first winner from qualifying.
At 19, Andreeva is the youngest women’s champion in Paris since an 18-year-old Monica Seles claimed her third consecutive title on the red dirt in 1992. She will vault into the top five in the rankings.
It is the Russian prodigy’s first grand slam title – in her maiden final – but almost certainly not the last for a player long tipped to be a future champion.
That future has arrived, and this was another wonderful demonstration of the new-found maturity that appears to have been the crucial missing piece in unlocking her vast potential.
“I’ve been watching Roland-Garros on TV since I was very, very young, so it’s a big dream of mine to win this tournament,” Andreeva said.
“I honestly cannot believe that I’m holding this trophy right now.”
Chwalinska was one of the key characters in an absurdly unpredictable fortnight in the French capital when the world No.114 came within one victory of joining countrywoman Iga Swiatek as a Roland-Garros champion.
She will rocket to a career-high ranking of No.21 on Monday, but remains at the mercy of Wimbledon’s wildcard overlords if she is to avoid having to qualify for the grasscourt slam.
“Congrats to Mirra. You’re such an incredible player. You’re so young and talented – it’s so annoying,” Chwalinska said, drawing laughs from the crowd.
“I really felt [everyone’s] love, and I’m very grateful. I wish I could play a better match today, but Mirra was too good for me, so, I guess, it’s her fault. I tried my best. I’m sorry. I will definitely not forget these three weeks. They will stay forever in my heart.”
Andreeva’s player box was full of supporters who have played a significant role in her career, but she saved her longest embrace for coach Conchita Martinez, who was runner-up to Mary Pierce at Roland-Garros in 2000 and has worked with the teenage superstar since April 2024.
There have been challenges in that time, but also some extreme highs, including Andreeva becoming the youngest women’s player in February last year to claim a Masters 1000 title when she triumphed in Dubai.
She followed up with another in Indian Wells soon after, further fuelling the endless hype around her.
But Andreeva’s semi-final run in Paris two years ago remained her best major result until this breakthrough.
In between, Andreeva had some growing pains on the bigger stages as she consistently wrestled with her emotions, including an expletive-laden tirade towards booing fans at Indian Wells in March. She admitted afterwards she was disappointed in herself, and needed to curb those types of episodes.
Twelve months ago, Andreeva also melted down in front of a partisan Paris crowd in a quarter-final defeat to Frenchwoman Lois Boisson.
But this time, the effervescent Andreeva was unstirred.
She absorbed not only the nerves that she openly admitted to after her semi-final demolition of red-hot Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, but also a crafty opponent in Chwalinska, who befuddled and frustrated nine previous opponents across the past three weeks.
Not even a gusty Parisian wind – even stronger than it had been in recent days since the local heat wave ended – could blow away the Siberian-born baseliner’s dream.
Andreeva fittingly made her first splash at a major on this same Roland-Garros clay as a 16-year-old qualifier in 2023, when she stormed into the third round before losing to another then-teenager, last year’s champion Coco Gauff.
The same year, she became the third-youngest player, when still 15, to win a main draw match at a WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid – and made it the quarter-finals.
France holds a special place in Andreeva’s heart, given she also relocated from Russia to French city Cannes with her older sister Erika to train in her formative years.
Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka have taken turns dominating the women’s game since Australian former world No. 1 Ash Barty’s retirement four years ago, but Andreeva might be the one to end that duopoly.
Andreeva and Chwalinska traded breaks in the first four games of the contest, including the Pole double-faulting into the bottom of the net on a nervous opening point.
Chwalinska ended that streak with a service hold in the fifth game to take her one and only lead in the title match, but that kicked Andreeva into gear.
She came out on top in a 19-shot rally full of variety and guile that finished with an Andreeva backhand winner – one of her 25 in the 82-minute contest – before slamming down a 188kmh ace.
That was the start of a championship-winning nine-game streak that wrenched the final away from Chwalinska’s grasp. Andreeva took control of the rallies and was willing to step inside the court to finish them, refusing to be another victim of the Pole’s cat-and-mouse creativity.
There were some glorious highlights along the way, including her somehow reaching then dinking a superb Chwalinska drop shot over the net before hitting a volley into the open court for a 5-3 first-set lead.
Andreeva thumped a crosscourt backhand winner to go up a set, and played with increasing aggression and freedom as her confidence soared.
The typically stoic Chwalinska showed her first signs of frustration in the opening game of the second, but there was little she could do to arrest the momentum surging against her. The most pivotal game of the match was still to come.
Having secured the break for a 2-0 lead, Andreeva slipped to 0-40 on serve.
Chwalinska came from a set down to upset Maria Sakkari in the third round, so Andreeva could not afford to leave the door ajar – and she slammed it shut by reeling off the next five points with some big hitting and help from her rival’s waywardness.
That advantage quickly became 5-0. Andreeva stumbled while trying to serve for the title, as her eagerness to end with a flurry cost her a break.
However, one last brilliant forehand-backhand combination a game later proved the knockout blow as she collapsed to the Parisian dirt then wiped away tears of joy in her crowning moment.
German Alexander Zverev will face Italian Flavio Cobolli in the men’s final on Sunday, with both chasing their first grand slam title.
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