Mirra Andreeva // Foto Getty images
For the Russian, it is the first Grand Slam title and the first Russian women’s triumph at Roland Garros in 12 years since Maria Sharapova won in 2014.
The final on Court Philippe Chatrier was controlled by Andreeva. After an even start to the match, the Russian managed to turn the tide of the first set at 3-3, and in the second game she quickly built a comfortable lead and brought the match to victory.
At the age of 19, Andreeva won her first Grand Slam title. Prior to her, the winners of tournaments of this rank among Russians were:
– Maria Sharapova – five Grand Slam titles, including Roland Garros in 2012 and 2014;
– Anastasia Myskina (2004), the first Russian to win Roland Garros. She beat another Russian, Elena Dementieva, in the final;
– Svetlana Kuznetsova (2009). She also defeated another Russian, Dinara Safina, in the final;
Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1996), the first Russian winner of the singles tournament. Then in 1999, Kafelnikov also won another Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open;
Daniil Medvedev is the last Russian winner of a men’s Grand Slam tournament. He won the U.S. Open in 2021.
What Andreeva said after her victory
After the final, Andreeva admitted that not long ago she herself watched the victories of her idols on TV and could not imagine herself in their shoes.
She gave special thanks to her team and sports psychologist, noting that it was her work on psychological stability that helped her cope with the pressure of the tournament’s decisive matches.
According to the tennis player, Maria Sharapova remains one of the sources of inspiration for her, and she hopes that the former world number one followed her performance in Paris.
Generational change in big tennis
Andreeva made a loud name for herself on the courts of Paris at the age of 16, and over the past two seasons she has consistently established herself among the elite of world tennis. The victory at Roland Garros was a logical continuation of the rapid growth of the Russian, who many experts call one of the main stars of the new WTA generation.
Interestingly, this tournament was also successful for tennis players with Russian roots. In the men’s singles, German tennis player Alexander Zverev, born in a family of Russian immigrants, reached the final. In the deciding match he will meet Italian Flavio Cobolli and try to win his first Grand Slam title.
Andreeva’s victory confirmed the trend of generational change in world tennis.
Among men, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who have dominated the court for the past 20 years, have already been replaced by new stars (although Djokovic continues to perform at the highest level and win).
Currently at the top of the world rankings are Italy’s Yannick Cinner and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
In women’s tennis the change of generations is more gradual, but here too the young but already experienced stars – Arina Sobolenko from Belarus, Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan (former Russian), Iga Swiontek from Poland – are coming to the forefront. Now Mirra Andreeva has been added to them.
