Mirra Andreeva became the fourth-youngest women’s champion at the French Open with a one-sided 6-3, 6-2 victory over Maja Chwalinska in the final. She has won her first-ever Grand Slam title at just 19 years and 38 days and has also become the youngest female Russian pro to conquer Paris’ clay-courts. Andreeva gave a solid performance in the 83-minute clash, starting and finishing off the tie by breaking Chwalinska’s serve. Though the champion looked to be in control for the most part at Philippe-Chatrier, she herself admitted to not being at ease and described her opponent as “very tricky”.

“Of course, first of all congrats to Maja for these amazing 3 weeks,” she said in her speech at the post-match ceremony. “Passing through qualies, winning so many matches, beating so many great players, congrats to your team as well. You guys have done an amazing job. You’re a very tricky opponent. I wouldn’t want to play against you one more time.”

“I wish you the best of the luck for the rest of the season and I hope we play…. Ok. it’s fine. I hope we play many many more finals together in the future,” she added, confirming that it was just a joke.

The match appeared to be an evenly-matched contest in the first set and was level at 3-3 on one stage. However, Andreeva soon turned the tide in her favor by clinching an important break in the seventh game. She would break Chwalinska’s serve again in the ninth game to take a vital lead in the match.

The Russian would storm past her opponent in the second set, taking a formidable 5-0 lead. Though Chwalinska did manage to earn a consolatory break at 5-1, Andreeva would break right back to rack up the biggest victory of her career.

Andreeva had been a solid player at the French Open for the past two editions as well. She had previously reached the semifinals of the Grand Slam in 2024 but had lost to Jasmine Paolini. She had been among the contenders last year as well, but ended up being knocked out by qualifier Lois Boisson in the quarterfinals.

Coming up against a qualifier in the final, the onus was on Andreeva to finally clinch the title this time around and she certainly delivered. The victory means that the youngster will be gaining a whopping 2,000 points on the rankings and is expected to rise up two places to reach the No. 6 spot.

For Chwalinska, the Cinderella run ended in heartbreak. Having defeated four top 50 players on her way to the final, she was expected to give a tough fight in the penultimate match as well. However, Andreeva proved to be just a step too far for the Polish qualifier. Regardless of the defeat, it turned out to be a memorable campaign for the 24-year-old, who is likely to gain 93 places on the rankings to end up from No. 114 to No. 21.

Though she did appear to be disappointed about losing the final, Chwalinska began her speech on a light note and praised her opponent for her triumph.

Maja Chwalinska hails Mirra Andreeva after defeat in the French Open final

“First of all congratulations to Mirra, you are such an incredible player, you are so young and talented, it’s so annoying,” she said during her speech. “Congrats to you and your team for an amazing job and I wish you all the best for the future.”

The victory couldn’t have come at a better time for Andreeva as she will now be blistering with confidence as she starts to prepare for the upcoming grass-court season.

Having made her best run at the Championships last year by reaching the quarterfinals, Andreeva will now definitely be considered as one of the contenders for the coveted title.

On the other hand, Chwalinska will have to wait and see if she is allotted a wildcard at Wimbledon, as otherwise she will have to get through three qualifying rounds in order to reach the main draw.

There is a possibility that the Pole will miss out on the wildcard as pretty much the same had happened with Lois Boisson last year even though she had reached the semis of the French Open as a qualifier.