Mirra Andreeva said winning her first Grand Slam title on Saturday at the French Open was “so much better” than she had imagined and that she wants to add to her tally as soon as possible.
The 19-year-old became the youngest women’s champion at Roland Garros in 34 years with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 victory over Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska in the final.
Andreeva, who will climb to sixth in the WTA rankings on Monday, is not planning to rest on her laurels ahead of the grass-court season and Wimbledon, where she lost in the quarter-finals last year.
“These feelings are something extra special,” said the triumphant eighth seed.
“And honestly, now I’m already thinking of how I’m going to prepare for the grass season, how I’m going to play grass tournaments.
“And I feel like this thing is a little bit addicting. And I really want to do my best to experience all of this for the second time.”
The teenager is the first player born after 2005, man or woman, to lift a Grand Slam trophy.
She made her French Open debut as a 16-year-old in 2023, reaching the third round, before making the semifinals in 2024 and last eight 12 months ago.
“I’ve had a lot of thoughts on how it’s going to happen, if it’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, where,” Andreeva said of winning her maiden major trophy.
“I would say that the feeling in real life is so much better, obviously, than in your dreams.
“It just feels amazing looking at this trophy and realising that this is actually true and I can call myself a Grand Slam champion.”
Andreeva thanked her psychologist for helping her prepare with how to deal with the weight of expectation in the latter stages of the tournament.
“I actually talked to my psychologist before the semifinal match and before the final match, because, I thought that it would help me be in the right state of mind before these most important matches of my life,” Andreeva added.
“So I wanted to prepare my best. And she gave me a lot of advice and a lot of techniques that I could try and use on the court to help myself to experience all of these things a little bit better and easier.”
Andreeva is the first Russian woman to win a major title since Maria Sharapova secured her fifth and final Grand Slam triumph at the 2014 French Open.
“I remember her winning here. Obviously, you know, she played amazing on clay,” she said of former world number one Sharapova.
“I knew that she was also here in Paris. And I was hoping, I don’t know if she was watching the final, but I was hoping that she was.
“I was thinking to myself that if she’s watching, it would be really nice to show good tennis, some good level.”
Source: Khaleej Times