Mirra Andreeva will play Frenchwoman, Fiona Ferro, in the first round of Roland Garros.
A year ago, Andreeva lost to another French player, Lois Boisson, in the quarter-finals.
The Russian became overwhelmed by the crowd’s support for her opponent and was seen crying as she exited the competition in straight sets.
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Ahead of her first-round match against another home favourite, Andreeva has shared what she expects from the Roland Garros crowd.
Mirra Andreeva expects the French crowd to support her opponent as much as they can
During her pre-tournament press conference, Andreeva was asked about the prospect of playing a Frenchwoman in Paris.
“Of course, it’s tricky to play a French player, especially in Paris, because, obviously, the crowd is going to support her as much as they can, and that’s totally ok,” she said.
“I have some experience, even from last year, when I played the quarters. I pretty much know what to expect.
“I’m going to prepare for this match as any other match, and we will see how it’s going to go.
“But I hope they’re not going to be too hard on me, and we will see, but I think it’s going to be a very entertaining match.”
Andreeva’s mentality has been questioned at times, with the youngster often struggling to keep control of her emotions.
However, since an outburst in Madrid, where Andreeva claimed she wasn’t a champion, the Russian has maintained her composure.
Andreeva has been working hard on that area of her game, and believes she has taken an important step forward.
“Well, I can say that, obviously, there are still times when I am hard on myself, because for some reason I didn’t like how I played, or maybe I lost a point I thought I should have won. [But] I feel like recently it has been better,” she said.
“I’m really understanding that when I don’t react to anything that’s happening on the court, when I’m trying to say good words, positive words to myself, I feel like it’s so much easier to play.
“I feel like I can think, can make better decisions, I’m not missing so many shots on the court as well.
“So, I just kind of felt the difference a little bit, and I don’t really want to go to that negative thinking so much, because I just feel like it’s so much harder to play.
“I felt how it was being negative and how it is being positive, and I like the positive side better.”
Andreeva can certainly feel positive about her chances at Roland Garros, after an excellent clay-court season.
Mirra Andreeva has won 83% of her matches on clay this year.
Playing tournaments in Linz, Stuttgart, Madrid, and Rome, Andreeva has won 15 matches.
Mirra Andreeva’s 2026 clay-court record
| Tournament | Performance | Wins | Defeat |
| Linz Open | Champion | 4 (Sloane Stephens, Sorana Cirstea, Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Anastasia Potapova) | – |
| Stuttgart Open | Semi-finalist | 3 (Jelena Ostapenko, Alycia Parks, Iga Swiatek) | Elena Rybakina |
| Madrid Open | Finalist | 5 (Panna Udvardy, Dalma Galfi, Anna Bondar, Leylah Fernandez, Hailey Baptiste) | Marta Kostyuk |
| Italian Open | Quarter-finalist | 3 (Antonia Ruzic, Viktorija Golubic, Elise Mertens) | Coco Gauff |
Her only defeats came against Elena Rybakina, who won the Stuttgart Open, Marta Kostyuk, who won the Madrid Open, and Coco Gauff, who reached the Italian Open final.
There aren’t many players in women’s tennis in better clay-court form than the Russian!
“The preparation so far is going great, I love playing in Paris, I love playing on these clay courts, and I’m super excited to be back, with a not bad result last year…” said Andreeva.
“Also it was a very good start on clay this year, so I’m just very excited to start the tournament on Sunday.”
Andreeva will begin her French Open campaign on Sunday, May 24, against Ferro.
