\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRussian teenager Mirra Andreeva was already a tennis phenom at age 15.At 19, she is a Grand Slam champion.The eighth-ranked Andreeva ended the run of 114th-ranked Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the French Open final Saturday.Andreeva became the youngest player to win the women\u2019s singles title since Monica Seles, who was 18 when she landed her third straight French Open in 1992. When Andreeva executed a backhand cross-court winner on her first match point, she dropped to her knees on the clay to celebrate.\u201cYou\u2019re so young and talented. It\u2019s so annoying,\u201d Chwalinska told Andreeva during the awards ceremony.During the trophy presentation, Andreeva took the unusual step of thanking herself \u201cfor believing in myself, always giving my 100%, even when it\u2019s tough, trying every day to be better as a person and as a player, believing that I can do this, fighting so many demons inside of me.\u201cOnly I know how tough it was for me,\u201d Andreeva added. \u201cHow nervous I was throughout these two weeks.\u201dChwalinska was attempting to become the first qualifier to capture the Roland Garros title.Andreeva was born in Siberia and moved to Sochi and eventually France to develop her tennis career.She drew loud applause from the crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier when she spoke a few words of French during the trophy presentation.\u201cThanks for your support today and over these past two marvellous weeks here in Paris,\u201d Andreeva said. \u201cIt was very important for me.\u201dAlexander Zverev plays Flavio Cobolli in the men\u2019s final Sunday to conclude the wildest Grand Slam in recent memory.Breakthrough at 15Andreeva has been considered a Grand Slam contender since she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old at the 2023 Madrid Open, when she became the third-youngest player to win a main-draw match at a WTA 1000 tournament and made the quarterfinals.Lately, Andreeva has had to contend with playing under neutral status and without her country\u2019s flag due to the war with Ukraine.When she beat Marta Kostyuk in the semifinals, her opponent refused to shake her hand, as has been the custom for Ukrainian players facing Russians ever since the war started in 2022.Andreeva has now gone a step further than her coach, Conchita Martinez, who lost the 2000 French Open final to Mary Pierce.Pierce presented the winner\u2019s trophy to Andreeva.Polish fan supportThe final was played under mostly sunny skies, but wind was a factor in the first Grand Slam final for both players.Chwalinska double-faulted on the opening point of the match, but she was the first player to hold serve in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead.But then Andreeva won nine straight games to take control as she found a way to hit through the wind and answer Chwalinska\u2019s array of spins and drop shots.Andreeva produced 25 winners to Chwalinska\u2019s 10 and also had fewer unforced errors: 26 to 29.There was a strong Polish presence in the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd.When Chwalinska was introduced, fans held aloft red-and-white Polish flags and chanted her name: \u201cMa-ja, Ma-ja.\u201dAndreeva had little support from the crowd, although there was a shout of \u201cDavai Mirra!\u201d \u2014 \u201cGo Mirra\u201d \u2014 in Russian late in the match.Men\u2019s doublesIn men\u2019s doubles, top-seeded Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos retained their title with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten.___AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tPARIS \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva was already a tennis phenom at age 15.<\/p>\n
At 19, she is a Grand Slam champion.<\/p>\n
The eighth-ranked Andreeva ended the run of 114th-ranked Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the French Open final Saturday.<\/p>\n
Andreeva became the youngest player to win the women\u2019s singles title since Monica Seles, who was 18 when she landed her third straight French Open in 1992. <\/p>\n
When Andreeva executed a backhand cross-court winner on her first match point, she dropped to her knees on the clay to celebrate.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re so young and talented. It\u2019s so annoying,\u201d Chwalinska told Andreeva during the awards ceremony.<\/p>\n
During the trophy presentation, Andreeva took the unusual step of thanking herself \u201cfor believing in myself, always giving my 100%, even when it\u2019s tough, trying every day to be better as a person and as a player, believing that I can do this, fighting so many demons inside of me.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly I know how tough it was for me,\u201d Andreeva added. \u201cHow nervous I was throughout these two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chwalinska was attempting to become the first qualifier to capture the Roland Garros title.<\/p>\n
Andreeva was born in Siberia and moved to Sochi and eventually France to develop her tennis career.<\/p>\n
She drew loud applause from the crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier when she spoke a few words of French during the trophy presentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks for your support today and over these past two marvellous weeks here in Paris,\u201d Andreeva said. \u201cIt was very important for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexander Zverev plays Flavio Cobolli in the men\u2019s final Sunday to conclude the wildest Grand Slam in recent memory.<\/p>\n
Breakthrough at 15<\/p>\n
Andreeva has been considered a Grand Slam contender since she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old at the 2023 Madrid Open, when she became the third-youngest player to win a main-draw match at a WTA 1000 tournament and made the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Lately, Andreeva has had to contend with playing under neutral status and without her country\u2019s flag due to the war with Ukraine.<\/p>\n
When she beat Marta Kostyuk in the semifinals, her opponent refused to shake her hand, as has been the custom for Ukrainian players facing Russians ever since the war started in 2022.<\/p>\n
Andreeva has now gone a step further than her coach, Conchita Martinez, who lost the 2000 French Open final to Mary Pierce.<\/p>\n
Pierce presented the winner\u2019s trophy to Andreeva.<\/p>\n
Polish fan support<\/p>\n
The final was played under mostly sunny skies, but wind was a factor in the first Grand Slam final for both players.<\/p>\n
Chwalinska double-faulted on the opening point of the match, but she was the first player to hold serve in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead.<\/p>\n
But then Andreeva won nine straight games to take control as she found a way to hit through the wind and answer Chwalinska\u2019s array of spins and drop shots.<\/p>\n
Andreeva produced 25 winners to Chwalinska\u2019s 10 and also had fewer unforced errors: 26 to 29.<\/p>\n
There was a strong Polish presence in the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd.<\/p>\n
When Chwalinska was introduced, fans held aloft red-and-white Polish flags and chanted her name: \u201cMa-ja, Ma-ja.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andreeva had little support from the crowd, although there was a shout of \u201cDavai Mirra!\u201d \u2014 \u201cGo Mirra\u201d \u2014 in Russian late in the match.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s doubles<\/p>\n
In men\u2019s doubles, top-seeded Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos retained their title with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva was already a tennis phenom at age 15.At 19, she is a Grand Slam…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[243,6012,6013,6015,6020,6016,4089,207,366,4663,6018,707,6024,220,6021,6019,519,6017,6014,5663,28,6022,3752,6023],"class_list":["post-28530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-french-open","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-athlete","tag-competition","tag-eighth-ranked-andreeva","tag-final-sunday","tag-first-grand-slam-title","tag-flavio-cobolli","tag-french-open","tag-grand-slam","tag-maja-chwalinska","tag-man","tag-mirra-andreeva","tag-recent-memory","tag-roland-garros","tag-roland-garro-final-saturday","tag-roland-garros-title","tag-russia","tag-single-title","tag-sknd","tag-teenager","tag-tennis","tag-wild-grand-slam","tag-woman","tag-young-player"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}