Teenager Mirra Andreeva won her first Grand Slam title as Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska was denied a fairytale French Open victory.
Andreeva, 19, 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 composure and reel off the next nine games to take a 6-3 5-0 lead, BBC reports.
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.
Chwalinska had enjoyed a transformative few weeks in Paris regardless of Saturday’s result.
No qualifier had previously won the French Open, while Chwalinska’s defeat means Britain’s Emma Raducanu remains the only qualifier to win a Grand Slam title after her 2021 US Open success.
Having not played a top-20 opponent on her way to the final, Chwalinska found Andreeva to be a huge step up in class.
“I wish you could see a better match today, but Mirra was too good for me, I guess it is her fault!” Chwalinska joked.
“I will not forget these three weeks. Paris will stay forever with me in my heart.”
Chwalinska had only come through Grand Slam qualifying in two of her previous 14 attempts, but winning nine matches in a row put her on the brink of history.
Most of her career has been spent on the lower rungs of the professional ladder, travelling around trying to make ends meets.
