The young Russian gets his first Grand Slam tennis title by winning the French Open

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva was already a tennis player at the age of 15. Now 19, he is a Grand Slam champion.

Eighth-ranked Andreeva finished off Poland’s 114th-ranked Maja Chwalinska with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the French Open final on Saturday. This was the first Grand Slam for both players.

Andreeva became the youngest player to win the women’s singles title since then Monica Seleswho was 18 when he won his third consecutive French Open in 1992.

Chwalinska was trying to become the first qualifier to take the Roland Garros title.

Andreeva has been considered a Grand Slam contender since she burst onto the scene at the age of 15 at the 2023 Madrid Open, when she became the third-youngest player to win a draw at a WTA 1000 tournament and reach the quarterfinals.

Recently, Andreeva has had to contend with playing under neutral conditions and without her country’s flag due to war with Ukraine. Andreeva was born in Siberia and moved to Sochi and eventually France to develop her tennis career.

When she beat Marta Kostyuk in the semi-finals, her opponent refused to shake her hand, as has been the practice of Ukrainian players against the Russians since the start of the 2022 war.

There was a strong Polish presence in the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd on Saturday, and when Chwalinska was introduced, fans held up red and white Polish flags and chanted her name. Andreeva herself had little support from the crowd, although there were shouts of “Davai Mirra!” — “Go Mirra” — in Russian at the end of the game.

Andreeva has now surpassed her coach, Conchita Martinezwho lost in the 2000 French Open final to Mary Pierce. Pierce presented the winner’s trophy to Andreeva.

During the presentation of the award, Andreeva took the unusual step of thanking herself “for believing in myself, I always give my 100%, even when it’s difficult, I try every day to be better as a person and as a player, believing that I can do this, I fight many demons inside me.

“I only know how hard it was for me,” added Andreeva. “How nervous I’ve been all these two weeks.”

The final was played under mostly sunny skies, although the wind was a factor.

When Andreeva hit a backhand court winner in her first point of the match, she dropped to her knees to celebrate.

Chwalinska double-faulted in the first point of the match, but was the first player to break even in the fifth game.

In men’s doubles, Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos retained their title with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten.

Alexander Zverev plays Flavio Cobolli in the men’s final on Sunday to cap the worst Grand Slam in recent memory.