Russian Teen Mirra Andreeva Says She Had to Overcome So Many Demons Inside to Win the French Open
Paris: With her hands covering her face, her knees dirty on the red clay court, Mirra Andreeva was celebrating — process might be a more appropriate word — how she had finally overcome “so many inner demons” that came with being a teenage tennis phenom.
After breaking onto the scene at the age of 15, Andreeva became a Grand Slam champion at the age of 19 when she defeated Russia’s Maja Chwalinska of Poland, ranked 114th in the qualifiers, 6-3, 6-2 in the French Open final on Saturday.
“I did a lot of visualizations before. Not only this tournament, but I also had dreams, I had a lot of thoughts about how it would be, if it would happen, when it would happen, where it would happen,” Andreeva said, still barely breathing as she spoke quickly in true teenage style. “Feelings in real life are much better than in your dreams.
“I can call myself a Grand Slam champion,” Andreeva added.
The biggest challenges for Andreeva haven’t been on the field – she already has one of the best offensive base games in the sport – but the mental part. And his stubbornness.
“Her attitude is tough,” said Conchita Martinez, Andreeva’s coach and former Wimbledon champion. “You tell him something, maybe he’s not open to listening… When he works hard and listens and does everything, he has no limits.”
Andreeva admitted this during the trophy ceremony.
“I know I can be a tough cookie sometimes and it’s pretty hard to tolerate me,” Andreeva said.
The victory put Andreeva one step ahead of Martinez, who lost the 2000 French Open final to Mary Pierce.
Pierce presented the winner’s trophy to Andreeva; Andreeva became the youngest woman to win a Grand Slam on clay court at the age of 18 when Monica Seles won her third consecutive French Open title in 1992.
“You are so young and talented. This is so frustrating,” Chwalinska, 24, told Andreeva.
Andreeva took the unusual step of thanking herself: “For believing in myself, for always giving 100% even when it was hard, for trying to get better as a person and as an actress every day, for believing that I could do it, for fighting many demons inside me.
“Only I know how difficult it is for me,” Andreeva added. “How nervous I was during these two weeks.”
Andreeva also thanked her psychologist, who she said was watching from Florida: “I’ve been trying to use everything you’ve told me these two weeks.”
Chwalinska spoke about depression Chwalinska was trying to become the first qualifier to win the Roland Garros title. He was a promising youngster alongside four-time Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek before he began struggling with depression in 2019.
“Tennis is a very demanding sport. It is very individual. We start very early. We are actually children when we start,” Chwalinska said. “People expect us to act like adults anyway, and we’re actually just kids. So the pressure is huge.”
Andreeva was born in Siberia and moved to Sochi and eventually France to develop her tennis career.
He received loud applause from the crowd at Court Philippe-Chatrier when he spoke a few words of French during the trophy presentation.
“Thank you for your support today and during these two wonderful weeks we spent here in Paris,” Andreeva said in French. “It was very important to me.”
Breakthrough at 15 years old Andreeva has been considered a Grand Slam contender since bursting onto the scene at age 15 at the 2023 Madrid Open, where she became the third-youngest player to win a main rules match at the WTA 1000 tournament and advanced to the quarter-finals.
Recently, Andreeva had to play in neutral status and without her country’s flag due to the war with Ukraine.
When she beat Marta Kostyuk in the semifinals, Kostyuk refused to shake her hand, as has been the tradition for Ukrainian players to face Russians since the war began in 2022.
“Not everyone in the world wants war,” Andreeva said. “I never think about these things when I play.”
Mastering the wind The final was played under mostly sunny skies, but the wind was a factor for both players in their first Grand Slam final.
Chwalinska double-faulted on the opening point of the match, but became the first player to serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead.
But then Andreeva won nine games in a row to take control as she found a way to cut through the wind and respond to Chwalinska’s various spin and drop shots.
While Chwalinska would drop back to tackle high balls into the wind, Andreeva would often move forward and receive rising balls.
“She definitely handled the wind a lot better than me,” Chwalinska said. “He wasn’t dodging the ball.”
Andreeva had 25 wins to Chwalinska’s 10 and also made fewer unforced errors: 26 to 29.
There was a strong Polish presence in the crowd.
When Chwalinska was introduced, fans held up red-and-white Polish flags and chanted her name “Ma-ja, Ma-ja”.
“Davai, Mirra!” Andreeva received little support from the crowd. Russian (“Go, Mirra”) towards the end of the match.
Alexander Zverev will end the wildest Grand Slam in recent memory when he faces Flavio Cobolli in the men’s final on Sunday.
