Andreeva Ends Maja’s Miracle Run, Wins Roland-Garros

Mirra Andreeva, Roland Garros
Mirra Andreeva (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, June 6, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Throughout the Parisian fortnight, Maja Chwalkinska‘s French Open journey has been an inspiring one. It has mixed together a sense of bravery on the tennis court with the ability to calm her nerves at the right moments.

Just the second qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era, after Emma Raducanu in 2021 during her run to the US Open title, the 114th-ranked Polish lefty’s shot making and defense have been impressive during her run at Roland-Garros.

On the other side of the net, No. 8 seed Mirra Andreeva‘s run to Saturday’s title match has seen her cruise past her opponents round by round with ease and purpose – an adult on the court in spite of still being a teenager at age 19.

Regardless of the outcome in Saturday’s final, it would become a great and inspirational story – one for the history books – to take forward as the 2026 season transitions from clay to grass. 

As it happened, after one hour and 22 minutes of excitement mixed with the right amount of tension and drama, it was Mirra’s moment to savor. Andreeva is now a Grand Slam champion. She defeated Chwalinska, 6-3, 6-2, to win the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen trophy. The Russian from Siberia became the first teenager (at 19 years and 39 days) to win the Roland-Garros women’s singles title since Iga Swiatek in 2020 and the youngest since 18-year-old Monica Seles won her third-straight Roland-Garros title in 1992. 

Additionally, the 2007-born Andreeva is the first player born after 2005 to reach a Grand Slam singles final and win a Grand Slam title. It was her third WTA Tour crown of this season to go with earlier titles won in Adelaide and Linz.

Andreeva received the champion’s trophy from 2000 Roland-Garros champion Mary Pierce.

“First of all, congrats to Maja for these amazing three weeks,” Andreeva said during her trophy speech. “Passing through qualies, winning so many matches, beating so many great players, congrats to your team as well. You guys have done an amazing job.

“You’re a very tricky opponent. I wouldn’t want to play against you one more time. I wish you the best of the luck for the rest of the season and I hope we play … OK, it’s fine. I hope we play many, many more finals together in the future.”

Andreeva added: “Thanks to my team. I can be a tough cookie sometimes. It’s pretty hard to put up with me certain days. Thank you very much for pushing me to my limits. Thank you for making me work even when I don’t want to work. You always push me. Thanks to Conchita, especially for sharing her experience. Giving me so much advice.”

In accepting her runner-up trophy, the soft-spoken surprise finalist Chwalinska said: “First of all, congrats to Mirra. You’re such an incredible player.” Then, with a smile and laughter, she added “You’re so young and talented – so annoying! …

“Congrats to you and your team for an amazing job. I wish you all the best for the future.”

On serve through the first six games, despite multiple breaks of serve by Chwalinska and Andreeva, both players delivered despite fighting gusty winds and cloudy, 63-degree Fahrenheit weather. Their rallies were gritty but powerful. However, Andreeva broke Chwalinska for the third time in the set, thanks to a couple of unforced errors to push ahead 4-3. Then, she consolidated the break with a composed service game that included two forehand winners and a stunning 17-shot rally clincher for a 5-3 lead.

From 2-3 down, Andreeva won the final four games of the opening set and won the 44-minute first set 6-3 to move half way to her first major title. She broke Chawalinka for the fourth time – dominating with 14 winners while taking advantage of 14 unforced errors from her opponents round.

As the second set unfolded, Andreeva went ahead a set and a break at 2-0. Two saved break points by Chwalinska weren’t enough as she committed some unforced errors during big moments that cost her and enabled Andreeva to win her sixth-straight game. Then, after facing a trio of break points, Andreeva went on to hold serve and consolidate the break for a 3-0 advantage. 

Next, Andreeva broke Chwalinkska again – for the sixth time in the match, this time at love – to lead 4-0, thanks to her dominant baseline groundstrokes, which dismantled her opponent’s serve, capped by an unforced error on break point. Then, Andreeva held comfortably in back of a couple of winners to push ahead at 5-0 – just a game away from winning her first major title. Chwalinska finally got on the scoreboard in the set, holding serve to trail 1-5. She won with a drop shot masterclass, something that enabled her to put together nine-straight wins to reach the final. 

Serving for the set, the match and the championship, Andreeva faced a break point at 30-40 but saved it after winning a four-shot exchange. Soon, Chwalinska broke for 2-5 after taking advantage of Andreeva’s fifth unforced error of the game. However, in the next game, Andreeva gained three championship points and won at love with a stunning, sixth-shot backhand winner to cap a dominant performance.

By the conclusion, Andreeva won 58 percent (22 of 38) of her first-serve points, hit 25 winners to 26 unforced errors, converted seven of 12 break points and outpointed Chwalinska 62-41. By comparison, Chwalinska won just 46 percent (17 of 37) of her first-serve points, hit 10 winners, committed 29 unforced errors and broke Andreeva’s serve three times in eight tries.

During an interview with TNT Sports after the trophy ceremony, Andreeva was asked what went through her mind as she chased after her first major title. “Obviously, I was very nervous as you could see,” she said. “I was 5-0 up in the second set and lost a couple of games in a row. I’m just happy I kept my composure and kept my focus. I felt like no matter what the score was, there was no way I was going to lose this match. No way am I going to lose another point or another game. I was very happy how locked-in I was in the last game.”

When Chwalinska was asked what she will remember about her Cinderella run at Roland-Garros, she told TNT Sports: “Honestly, it happened so quickly,” she said. “A lot of things happened. I will need a lot of time to process it. Definitely, it was an unbelievable three weeks for me. …

“For now, nothing has changed for me. I just really felt the love and support from the fans, which I’m really grateful for. I don’t know what I did to deserve it.”

Looking back, while it was career-changing tournament for Chwalinska, it was a marvelous triumph for Andreeva, who dropped just one set during her run to the title. Upon securing game, set, match and championship, Andreeva and Chwalinska shared a warm embrace at the net. Then, Andreeva ran upstairs to her box and shared huge hugs with her coach, Hall of Famer Conchita Martinez – a former Roland-Garros finalist, who lost to Pierce, 6-2, 7-5 – as well as her mother and team.

Currently ranked World No. 8, Andreeva is projected to rise to No. 6 by making the Roland-Garros final and winning the tournament. It’s one spot shy of her career-high ranking of No. 5, set last July. Meanwhile, Chwalinska, one spot shy of her career-high ranking of No. 113, which she reached just last month, will crack the WTA Top 100 and rise to No. 21 with her runner-up finish.

Granollers and Zeballos successfully defend men’s doubles title

Defending champions Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina won their second-straight Roland-Garros men’s doubles title Saturday afternoon. The top seeds defeated No. 2 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain, 6-4, 6-2, in one hour and 16 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier with the roof closed to successfully defend their French Open crown.

Granollers, 40, and Zeballos, 41, who improved to 24-7 this season, converted five of 11 break pointsand outpointed Heliovaara and Patten 63-43.

The title was the Spanish/Argentine duo’s third major after winning the French Open and US Open last year. It was their third win over the Finnish/British pair in five meetings – and their road to winning back-to-back titles in Paris was completed with dropping a set during the fortnight. They are the first No. 1 seeds to win the clay-court major since Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in 2013.

“This is part of a long journey together,” Zeballos said during the trophy ceremony, after he and Granollers collected their 16th career title as a team. They first teamed in 2019. “It’s a beautiful time that we are spending, not only tournaments but also every day that we go to practice and being with each other. All our team is amazing. Hopefully, we’ll stick together for a long time.

“I’m 41 years-old and this is one of the best moments of my career. So, it’s never too late for anybody.”

Granollers and Zeballos became the first repeat champions at Roland-Garros since Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies of Germany in 2019-20 and the fifth men’s doubles team to win Paris in back-to-back years. After losing their first three major finals, they’ve won three of the last five Grand Slam titles.

Despite losing, Heliovaara and Patten, who seeking their third major title as a team after winning Wimbledon in 2024 and the Australian Open in 2025, will rise to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings for the first time on Monday.

“I really think that you deserve to be No. 1,” Granollers said. “Now is your time and you deserve it as a team.

“Also, thank you to my partner, for fighting with me for seven years. We have good moments and bad moments, but here we are with one more Roland Garros [trophy]. We are very happy.”

Around the French Open

• No. 1 seed Luis Gato Miguel of Brazil beat No. 13 seed Michael Antonius of the United States, 6-3, 6-4, in 75 minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu to capture the junior boys’ singles title. The 17-year-old Miguel becomes the first Brazil player to win a Roland-Garros junior singles title – and he’s the first Brazilian player to contest a junior singles final here in 59 years.

Gato hit 28 winners, converted four of nine break points and outpointed his opponent 64-50.

 

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• No. 12 seed Alisa Oktiabreva of Russia, who trains in Czechia, defeated No. 2 seed Sun Xinran of China, 6-2, 6-1, in 65 minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu to win the junior girls’ singles title. Oktiabreva struck 29 winners and converted seven of eight break points. She outpointed Sun 62-35.

The 17-year-old Oktiabreva previously reached the girls’ singles semifinals as a 14-year-old. Now, she’s focused mainly on her professional career and has won five ITF World Tennis Tour titles and reached a career-high WTA ranking of No. 280 earlier this season.

 

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• The junior boys’ doubles title was won by Jamie Mackenzie and Vincent Jakob Reisach of Germany, who defeated French duo Mathys Domenc and Daniel Jade, 6-1, 6-4, in 61 minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu.

• The junior girls’ doubles title went to Jana Kovackova and Katerina Zajickova of Czechia, who swept eighth-seeded American pair Jordyn Hazelitt and Welles Newman, 6-1, 6-4, in 59 minutes on Court 14.

• In a battle between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, Tokito Oda of Japan defeated Alfie Hewett of Great Britain, 6-3, 6-3, in one hour and 20 minutes on Court 14 to win the men’s wheelchair title. It’s Oda’s fourth Roland-Garros crown and he’s won the French Open four consecutive years. It’s also Oda’s fifth-straight men’s wheelchair major title – and ninth overall. 

• After missing eight months due to hip surgery, No. 4 seed Diede de Groot of the Netherlands resumed her domination at the majors by winning a record-extending 24th Grand Slam women’s wheelchair singles title. The 29-year-old Dutchwoman defeated Ksenia Chasteau of France, 6-1, 6-0, in 48 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to garner her sixth Roland-Garros singles title and to become the third player to win six or more wheelchair singles titles in Paris. It was De Groot’s 98th singles title overall. 

• No. 2 seed Niels Vink of the Netherlands won the quad wheelchair singles title over Ahmet Kaplan of Turkey, 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and 17 minutes on Court 14. Vink became the second player to hold all four Grand Slam quad wheelchair singles titles simultaneously – and it was his ninth major singles title overall. 

Saturday’s Roland-Garros results

Sunday’s Roland-Garros order of play

By the numbers

Currently ranked No. 114, Maja Chwalinska is the lowest-ranked woman to make the Roland-Garros final since the inception of the WTA Rankings in November of 1975.

“Quotable …”

“Last but not least I also want to thank myself for believing in myself. … Always giving my 100 percent, even when it’s tough. Trying every day to be better as a person and as a player. Believing I can do this. Fighting so many demons inside of me. Only I know how tough it was for me. How nervous I was these last few weeks.. Also, thanks to myself for working so hard and giving my best.”

– Roland-Garros women’s singles champion Mirra Andreeva, during her trophy acceptance speech after defeating Maja Chwalinska.

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