Mirra Andreeva raced into her first Grand Slam final by defeating an erratic Marta Kostyuk 6-1, 6-3 at the French Open on Thursday.
The 19-year-old Russian needed just one hour and 16 minutes to overcome her Ukrainian opponent. Andreeva will face either compatriot Diana Shnaider or Poland’s Maja Chwalinska in Saturday’s final.
“I’m still very, very nervous. I was very nervous coming into this match,” said eighth seed Andreeva on court afterwards.
Kostyuk, the 15th seed, had won her previous two meetings with Andreeva, both this year. The most recent came on clay in the Madrid final, where Kostyuk extended her unbeaten run on red dirt to 17 matches heading into the Roland Garros semi-finals.
How Andreeva Beat Kostyuk?
On Thursday, however, she quickly began to unravel against
her teenage opponent. Kostyuk dropped serve in the opening game after two double faults and a pair of unforced errors.
She led 0-40 in Andreeva’s first service game, but a combination of Kostyuk’s mistakes on high-risk shots and the Russian’s solid defence allowed Andreeva to recover and consolidate the break.
The pattern continued as Andreeva seized control and wrapped up the 34-minute first set.
Kostyuk had a break point in the first game of the second set but could not convert.
Andreeva moved 4-1 ahead. Kostyuk, who finished with 34 unforced errors, finally earned a break of serve but immediately dropped her own serve to love, and Andreeva calmly closed out the victory.
“She’s had an amazing season,” Andreeva said of Kostyuk. “She’s an amazing player, a very tough opponent.
“I’m super happy with the way I played and that I got revenge for the Madrid final, and I’m happy that I’m in my first-ever Grand Slam final.
“All of these feelings combined, it’s amazing. I’ve never felt anything like this before.”
Andreeva was the only one of the women’s semi-finalists to have previously reached this stage at one of the four majors — she lost to Jasmine Paolini in the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2024.
Shnaider and Chwalinska, a qualifier, were set to meet later on Thursday to decide her opponent in the final.
“I’m nervous but at the same time I’m very, very excited,” Andreeva added about playing her first major final.
(With inputs from Agencies)
