Mirra Andreeva says maiden major triumph exceeded expectations

Mirra Andreeva said her maiden Grand Slam triumph exceeded her expectations and she was already hungry to experience that feeling again after claiming the French Open title on Saturday.

Andreeva swept aside the surprise finalist Maja Chwalinska 6-3, 6-2 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.

"I'll be honest, I've done a lot of visualisations 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," Andreeva told reporters.

"I would say the feeling in real life is so much better, obviously, than in your dreams. Yeah, it just feels looking at this trophy and realising that this is actually true, and I can call myself a Grand Slam champion."

Andreeva said achieving the milestone in Paris made it even more special.

"I always said that it wouldn't matter to me. A Grand Slam is a Grand Slam. Whatever comes first, I'll be super happy with it," she added.

"I kind of feel pretty happy that Paris came first, because I love playing on clay. I have played almost all my life on the surface. I also speak a little bit of French.

"So I felt like this would be the perfect first Grand Slam for me to come, and so super happy that it happened here."

Mirra Andreeva added that she has already started thinking about how to prepare for grass courts, with Wimbledon set to begin on June 29.

"These feelings are extra special. Now I'm already thinking of how I'm going to prepare for the grass season, how I'm going to play grass tournaments," Andreeva said.

"I feel like this thing is a little bit addictive, and I really want to do my best to experience all of this for the second time."

Andreeva has become the first teenager to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup since Iga Swiatek in 2020.