Mirra Andreeva beats Maja Chwalinska to win French Open title, claims first major

Mirra Andreeva swept aside the surprise finalist Maja Chwalinska 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday to deny a fairytale French Open victory for the Polish qualifier.

Andreeva became the youngest French Open women’s singles winner since Monica Seles won her third straight title in 1992, aged 18.

The Pole appeared frozen by the magnitude of the occasion on Court Philippe Chatrier and the 19-year-old Russian capitalised on the opportunity to seize control of the match.

Andreeva overcame a jittery start to win her maiden Grand Slam crown, getting into her groove as the match wore on while Chwalinska struggled to settle on the big stage.

The world number 114 came into the limelight at Roland Garros with her tactical intelligence and fearless tennis, winning nine matches in a row from qualifying to the final. But in the title match, she failed to reproduce that confidence and form despite the support of hundreds of Polish fans.

In the opening set of the match, both players looked nervous and struggled to settle under the pressure of a Grand Slam final.

Chwalinska, only the second female player since tennis turned professional in 1968 to reach a Grand Slam final after Britain's Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open, survived a very long and difficult opening service game in which she saved three break points with a combination of deft drop shots and fearless forehand winners but neither player could establish control.

At 3-3, however, the balance shifted decisively.

Mirra Andreeva began finding momentum, forcing Chwalinska onto the defensive and drawing errors from the Pole's racket.

The Russian went 4-3 ahead by breaking Chwalinska’s serve, netting a sliced backhand, consolidated for 5-3 and then capitalised on a nervy final service game to wrap up the set.

Andreeva then broke to move 2-0 up in the second set as Chwalinska committed yet another unforced forehand error. The Pole wasted three break points and dropped serve again to fall 4-0 behind.

Chwalinska pulled a break back and made a brief comeback to make the score 5-2, only for Andreeva, the first teenager to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup since Iga Swiatek in 2020, to secure the victory and the title on her opponent's serve with a crosscourt backhand winner.