TEENAGER Mirra Andreeva has claimed her first-ever Grand Slam title, denying Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska a fairytale French Open victory.
Andreeva, 19, today fulfilled the potential she has long shown with a 6-3 6-2 victory over an opponent who was a 500-1 outsider before the tournament.
Russian eighth seed Andreeva is the youngest woman to win the Roland Garros title since Monica Seles in 1992.
After securing victory in one hour and 22 minutes, Andreeva fell to the court in elation before quickly running up to the stands for a warm embrace with her coach Conchita Martinez – herself a former major champion after winning Wimbledon in 1994.
“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 overcame a tense start, where nerves and a swirling wind led to the final starting with four successive breaks of serve.
It was world number 114 Chwalinska who held first – much to the delight of the 15,000-strong crowd who gave her vociferous support throughout.
Despite thousands of Polish fans cheering Chwalinska on, Andreeva showed her increased maturity to maintain her composure and reel off the next nine games to take a 6-3 5-0 lead.
There was more tension when Andreeva was unable to serve out victory at the first attempt, but she recovered to take her first championship point on Chwalinska’s serve with a backhand winner.
With agency report
