On Saturday, Mirra Andreeva became the youngest women’s singles champion at Roland Garros since Monica Seles in 1992.
The Russian won in straight sets to claim her first major title, 6-3, 6-2.
At 19, she also became the third-youngest Grand Slam women’s champion since 2000, behind only Emma Raducanu (18) at the 2021 US Open and Maria Sharapova (17) at Wimbledon in 2004.
After Andreeva lifted the trophy, seven-time French Open champion Chris Evert had high praise for her performance.
Chris Evert reacts to Mirra Andreeva winning the French Open
Speaking on TNT Sports, Evert said: “What I love about Mirra is that she is great for women’s tennis. She is mature on the court, but she is still sort of a little girl at heart. She is sassy and funny and she plays a lot of pranks on people.
“She really adds a lot of personality to the game. That is what we need. We need some personality and great stories like this.
“She played a great match. There are no holes in her game. She played aggressively, held her nerve very well because it’s tricky with the wind and the pressure on her to win. Things could have turned grey on here, but she didn’t! She was in complete control.”
Chris Evert comments on Mirra Andreeva’s understated French Open celebrations
Andreeva didn’t go over the top with her celebrations after her victory, much like Elena Rybakina at this year’s Australian Open.
Evert offered some insight into why that might have been, saying: “I think it was almost because of the opponent she was playing.”
“I think she was relieved to win the match. I think she was thinking of winning the match rather than a Grand Slam tournament.
“She would have got a bit more excited if it was a top player. People react differently; maybe it had not hit her yet.
“Sometimes it doesn’t hit you until the next day, but I think she was just relieved to win that match because it was tricky.”
Andreeva will now try to back up her French Open success with another deep run at Wimbledon, where she reached the quarterfinals last year.
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