Eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva will have a surprise opponent in Saturday’s French Open final, when she takes on tournament qualifier Maja Chwalinska.
Andreeva advanced to her first Grand Slam final on Thursday with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Marta Kostyuk in the semifinals at Paris. Chwalinska continued her dream run in the tournament with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over No. 25 seed Diana Shnaider
Andreeva, a teenager from Russia, recorded two aces and took advantage of four double faults by Kostyuk en route to ending the match in 76 minutes. Kostyuk, from Ukraine, saw her 17-match winning streak come to a halt.
“I am happy that I am in my first-ever Grand Slam final. All of these feelings combined, it is amazing,” Andreeva said. “I just told myself, no matter what happens, I am going to fight and give my best. With this kind of mindset, I ended up winning.”
Andreeva, 19, will square off against Polish qualifier Chwalinska, 24, who became the first qualifier in French Open history to reach the tournament final by defeating Shnaider of Russia.
Ranked No. 114 in the world, Chwalinska also is just the third woman to make the French Open final in her main-draw debut, joining Evonne Goolagong (1971) and Chris Evert (1973).
“Like a dream, honestly,” Chwalinska said in her post-match interview. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what to say, I’m sorry. I’m just very happy. It’s so challenging to play against the best players in the world, day by day, but it’s a Grand Slam so you just have to give your all and more. I’m not complaining at all.”
Andreeva and Chwalinska will be meeting for the first time.
“I played (nine) matches here already, so there are no secrets,” Chwalinska said. “But I watched Mirra a bit. They were playing before us, so I watched her game and it was incredible. It’s just another great experience for me. I will for sure give my all. It’s a Grand Slam final.”
The politically charged matchup involving Andreeva and Kostyuk did not feature a traditional pre-match picture of the two players or a post-match handshake.
In between, Andreeva won the first four games and cruised to victory in the first set.
Kostyuk lost serve in the second game of the second set and never threatened as Andreeva defeated Kostyuk for the first time in three tries.
“I’m still very nervous, very nervous coming to this match as she’s had an amazing season, she hadn’t lost on clay, so that put pressure,” Andreeva said.
“Until this match she hasn’t lost a match on clay, so of course that puts a lot of pressure. She’s an amazing player, very tough opponent and I’m first of all super happy with the way I played today, then I’m happy that I got a revenge from Madrid final, and then as well I’m happy that I’m in my first ever Grand Slam final. All of these feelings combined … I’ve never felt anything like this before, and I’m very excited about the last match here in Paris.”
Chwalinska forged her way into that last match in Paris by breaking Shnaider’s serve four times in the first-set tiebreaker. The latter earned a 4-3 lead in the second set before calling for a medical timeout, with a trainer tending to her back.
The end was near for Shnaider, as Chwalinska steamed ahead to win the match in 2 hours and 10 minutes.
It ended after Chwalinska’s shot from beyond the baseline on match point bounced just inside the line. She immediately fell to her back and put her hands to her face in an emotional moment.
Shnaider entered the match after upsetting World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
