Russian tennis player Mirra Andreeva won her first Grand Slam title with a straight sets win over Poland’s Maja Chwalinska in the Roland-Garros final in Paris on Saturday.
Playing on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Andreeva defeated Chwalinska 6-3, 6-2 to claim the Suzanne-Lenglen Trophy and €2.8 million ($3.23 million) in prize money.
The 19-year-old became the youngest women’s champion at Roland-Garros since Monica Seles won her third straight title in 1992 at the age of 18. The win also made the Siberian-born the first Russian woman to win the French Open since Maria Sharapova lifted the trophy in 2014.
Video footage showed Andreeva falling to her knees and fighting back tears before hugging and thanking Chwalinska immediately after her victory.
“It’s very special to me. I’ve been watching Roland-Garros on TV since I was little,” He said. “It’s been my biggest dream and I can’t believe I’m holding this trophy now.”
Under restrictions imposed on Russian and Belarusian athletes by the French Tennis Federation after the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, Andreeva was not allowed to compete under the national flag.
Many sports federations banned athletes from the two countries that year. Since then, some governing bodies have allowed Russians and Belarusians to participate under conditions of neutrality, while others have lifted restrictions entirely.
On Tuesday, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) lifted its ban on Russian and Belarusian competitors. In the past, the international governing bodies of gymnastics, judo, taekwondo, wrestling and aquatics have ruled out similar measures.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long denounced the ban as a restriction of political favoritism and selection. “There is no place for politics in sports,” he said last year.
