Mirra Andreeva wins the French Open: 19-year-old claims first Grand Slam title

Mirra Andreeva is a Grand Slam champion. The 19-year-old held her nerve where a debutant could not, beating Polish qualifier Maja Chwalińska 6-3, 6-2 to win the French Open — her first major title, and the moment the rest of the game has seen coming for two years.

Andreeva becomes the youngest woman to win Roland-Garros since Monica Seles in 1992. For Chwalińska, a 500-1 outsider when the fortnight began and still ranked outside the world’s top 100, the dream ended one match short — but not before she had rewritten her life.

How the final was won

It did not start like a coronation. A swirling wind on Court Philippe-Chatrier and the natural tension of a first Grand Slam final produced a nervy opening in which the first four games all went against serve. It was Chwalińska, roared on by the bulk of a 15,000 crowd that had taken her to its heart, who steadied first.

That was as good as it got for the underdog. From a shaky start Andreeva simply took over, reeling off nine games in a row to surge from level pegging to 6-3, 5-0 — the gap in ranking, power and big-match composure laid bare. The only late drama was self-inflicted: serving for the title, Andreeva was broken, and had to wait. She did not wait long, sealing it on the Chwalińska serve with a clean backhand winner after one hour and 22 minutes.

The release was immediate. Andreeva sank to the clay, then sprinted to the stands to fall into the arms of her coach, Conchita Martinez — the 1994 Wimbledon champion whose two years in Andreeva’s corner have helped convert raw teenage talent into a major winner. “I’ve been watching Roland-Garros since I was very young and it has always been a dream to win this trophy,” Andreeva said.

Andreeva finally fulfils her potential

The promise was never in doubt; only the timing. Born in Siberia and based in France, Andreeva announced herself at the 2023 Madrid Open as a fearless 16-year-old, drawing praise from no less than Andy Murray. A run to the French Open semi-finals at 17 in 2024 confirmed Paris as her happiest hunting ground, and through 2025 she banked two WTA 1000 titles and broke into the world’s top five. The one box left unticked was the biggest.

What stood out this fortnight was the temperament. A fiery on-court streak has long been a reminder of her age, but in Paris she met every test with a calm that belied her 19 years — never more so than in a charged semi-final against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, which she controlled to win 6-1, 6-3. In the final she was tested again early; again she refused to blink. Andreeva already had the game. Now she has proved she has the nerve to match it. (See how the two finalists matched up in our Andreeva vs Chwalińska head-to-head.)

Why Chwalińska will never forget Paris

Lose the final and she still leaves as the story of the tournament. Maja Chwalińska arrived in Paris ranked 114th in the world and had to win three rounds of qualifying simply to make the main draw — something she had managed only twice in her previous 14 attempts at Grand Slam qualifying. Nine consecutive wins later, without facing a single top-20 opponent along the way, she walked out for a major final. She is the second qualifier to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open era, after Britain’s Emma Raducanu — who remains the only one to go on and win, at the 2021 US Open.

The run was all the more remarkable for what came before it. A junior doubles partner of Iga Świątek, Chwalińska stepped away from the sport in 2021 to deal with severe depression, and has spent most of her career grinding on tennis’s lower tiers, scratching to make ends meet. After her second-round win here she admitted she had feared she could not afford more nights in her hotel. She will not have that worry again: the run banks her roughly €1.4m in prize money — more than tripling her career earnings — and lifts her to a projected career-high ranking of around No. 21, with a Wimbledon main-draw wildcard now a realistic hope.

She faced the moment with a smile. “I wish you could have seen a better match today, but Mirra was just too good — I guess that’s her fault,” Chwalińska joked on court, before adding: “I will never forget these three weeks. Paris will stay in my heart forever.” Her run to the final also ended that of another fast-rising name, Diana Shnaider, whom she beat in the semis.

What comes next

The clay now gives way to grass. Andreeva carries a maiden Grand Slam and a top-of-the-game aura into the most important grass swing of her career, with Wimbledon next on the horizon. Chwalińska, transformed, chases a first appearance in the main draw at the All England Club. Two very different journeys — one arriving exactly on schedule, the other against all odds — both pointed at SW19.

More French Open coverage: Roland-Garros hub · Mirra Andreeva player profile · Maja Chwalińska player profile · Andreeva vs Chwalińska head-to-head · women’s final preview</a · Zverev wins the men’s title