Mirra Andreeva claimed her first Grand Slam title on Saturday after beating Maja Chwalinska in the Roland Garros final.
Andreeva, 19, defeated Chwalinska 6-2, 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier, confirming her status as one of the youngest Grand Slam champions in tennis history.
How many Grand Slams does Mirra Andreeva win in her career? 🏆
Despite the final loss, it was an incredibly impressive fortnight for Maja Chwalinska, who became only the second qualifier in tennis history – after Emma Raducanu – to reach a Grand Slam final.
The Polish star, who was given some valuable advice from Mary Pierce after the final, has risen over 90 places in the WTA rankings to world number 21.
Chwalinska stunned the tennis community with her efforts in Paris; yet Patrick Mouratoglou believes she could have gone one step further, had she not made one ‘big mistake’ during the final against Andreeva.
Patrick Mouratoglou believes Maja Chwalinska made a ‘big mistake’ in changing her tactic during the Roland Garros final
“I’ll surprise you but I think that Chwalinska could have won this Roland Garros final,” Mouratoglou, the former coach of Serena Williams, said in an Instagram post.
“But she made this big mistake, she didn’t follow absolute rule in tennis: never change a tactic that works.
“We knew that Andreeva was superior to Chwalinska in terms of level of play, but we also knew that Chwalinska was dangerous, because she has such a different style of game.
“The danger was that with this style, Andreeva that was the immense favourite, would become frustrated.
“From 2-2 to 2-3, the last game, she [Andreeva] got broken, she served double faults, two big unforced errors and I was feeling that it was really boiling inside.
“And I thought, ‘oof, she’s in danger.’ I think that’s exactly what Chwalinska also thought and I think she saw herself potentially winning at that moment.
“And then she [Chwalinska] changed tactics.
“Chwalinska started to rush, she started to take the balls early, playing way more flat – which is, I think, not her game.
“I think if she would have stayed in the same tactics, she would have had a good chance to win.”
Had Chwalinska won the Roland Garros title, she would have joined Emma Raducanu in becoming only the second qualifier to win a Grand Slam title.
Maja Chwalinska’s Roland Garros campaign
- Qualifying first round: beat Alice Rame 6-0, 6-3
- Qualifying second round: beat Carole Monnet 6-0, 6-1
- Qualifying third round: beat Suzan Lammens 7-6, 7-5
- First round: beat Qinwen Zheng 6-4, 6-0
- Second round: beat Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-0
- Third round: beat Maria Sakkari 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Fourth round: beat Diane Parry 6-3, 6-2
- Quarter-finals: beat Anna Kalinskaya 7-6, 6-3
- Semi-finals: beat Diana Shnaider 7-6, 6-4
- Final: lost to Mirra Andreeva 3-6, 2-6
Raducanu, the British number one, stunned onlookers in New York by winning the 2021 US Open title.
Returning to Chwalinska, the 24-year-old will now turn her attention towards the grass-court swing.
Despite being ranked 21st in the world, the Polish player may need to come through qualifying at Wimbledon.
Maja Chwalinska must surely now be given a Wimbledon wildcard! 🍓
This is because Chwalinska was ranked too low to qualify for the main draw when the Wimbledon entry list cut-off date passed [6 weeks prior to the tournament].
Maja Chwalinska’s five-word reaction to her Roland Garros campaign
It was a truly spectacular two weeks for Maja Chwalinska and a moment in her career that she will never forget.
“No words. Thank you, Paris,” the Polish star said in an Instagram post following the conclusion of her Roland Garros campaign.
Chwalinska received congratulatory responses from a number of WTA players, including Marta Kostyuk, Sinja Kraus, Magda Linette and Magdalena Frech.
A spokesperson for Roland Garros also responded by saying: “Congrats on an unbelievable three weeks in Paris, Maja.”
Chwalinska’s story in Paris will be remembered for a very long time; and one hopes that the Polish star continues to inspire the next generation of tennis players throughout the remainder of her playing career.
