The Russian nugget Mirra Andreeva did not make any details in her semi-final against the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who is undefeated this season on clay. At just 19 years old, the Siberian becomes the youngest finalist in a Grand Slam tournament since Coco Gauff at Roland-Garros in 2022. She will face Polish Maja Chwalinska, the first player from qualifying to reach the Roland-Garros final.
Published on: 06/04/2026 - 5:31 p.m. Modified on: 06/04/2026 - 9:31 p.m.
The Russian Mirra Andreeva easily qualified Thursday, June 4 for the final of Roland-Garros, her first in a Grand Slam, thanks to her clear victory against the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (6-1, 6-3) during a match completed in one hour and 16 minutes. She will face the Polish Maja Chwalinska (114th in the world), victorious against the Russian Diana Schnaider, who thus becomes the first player from qualifying to reach the final of Roland-Garros.
Between Andreeva and Kostyuk, a semi-final against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine
The clash between Andreeva and Kostyuk, the two best players on ocher this season, ended short, the Siberian having unfolded despite the wind thanks to a well-regulated serve.
"It's amazing! I've never felt anything like this before," exclaimed the winner of the first semi-final in her post-match interview.
In a duel with stakes beyond tennis, more than four years after the start of the large-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine, Kostyuk (15th) lost his face-off from the start and struggled to exist in the first set against a clinical Andreeva.
Gaining speed by the quality of the service and the length of the ball of the Russian, the winner of the Rouen and Madrid tournaments wasted her rare opportunities to engage in arm wrestling by committing numerous unforced errors (34, compared to 22 for Andreeva).
At 23, Kostyuk was playing in her first Grand Slam semi-final and had given it a very political spin by taking advantage of her post-match speeches to recall the suffering of the Ukrainian people, where Andreeva, already a semi-finalist in Paris in 2024, said very little about the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
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A precocious talent who reached the semi-finals of Roland-Garros in 2024 at the age of 17, Andreeva will therefore experience her first final of a Major and she will be the favorite.
Over the last thirty years, only three players have reached the Porte d'Auteuil final while being younger than Andreeva: the Swiss Martina Hingis (1997, 1999), the Belgian Kim Clijsters (2001) and the American Coco Gauff (2022).
“It seems like a dream”
Opposite, there will be the unstoppable Maja Chwalinska. The left-handed player with a varied game won 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 against another Russian, the 23rd in the world Diana Shnaider, signing her ninth victory in a row in Paris.
A barely believable epic for the 24-year-old player, who before Roland-Garros had only won two matches on clay on the main circuit, and only one match in the final draw of a Grand Slam.
On Saturday, she will try to become the second qualifier in history to win a major tournament, five years after the epic victory of Briton Emma Raducanu at the US Open.
“It feels like a dream. I don’t know what’s happening to me,” smiled the fresh finalist, completely incredulous in her post-match interview.
With AFP
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