Pundits and fans are declaring the 2026 French Open a classic edition of the clay-court Grand Slam. It was certainly an unusual one, with upsets galore in both the men’s and the women’s editions. Across both of those, 13 of the top 20 seeds (the top 10 from each) lost before the fourth round.
The men’s tournament was won by the man ranked third in the world, which isn’t so strange in itself. However, considering the last nine Slams had all been won by either Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz, it has to rank as a pretty major shock. What’s more, the eventual winner, Alexander Zverev, was beginning to doubt his time would ever come, the 29-year-old finally getting over the line in what was his fourth Grand Slam final.
The women’s game is far more open, with 16 first-time Grand Slam champions since the 2017 season. That number now includes Mirra Andreeva, who is at the opposite end of her career to Zverev. The Russian, who lives in Cannes and competes as a neutral athlete, became the youngest woman to win the French Open since 1992. The champion back then was Monica Seles, and she didn’t have a bad career!
Andreeva Romps to Glory
MIRRA ANDREEVA ROLAND-GARROS CHAMPION #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/9YJqol3qk9
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2026
Andreeva only turned 19 in April and clearly has a very bright future. Her win at Roland-Garros has moved her up to number six in the world rankings, but she was one place higher around a year ago and has the ability to go right to the top. Given her tender years, she should win many more tournaments in the years ahead, but right now she can savour her first Grand Slam.
She beat the 24-year-old Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska in the final, winning with real ease. Chwalinska has moved up to number 21 in the world, but despite being the first qualifier to make it to the final, she was thoroughly outclassed.
Andreeva won 6-3, 6-2 in blustery conditions on Philippe Chatrier and controlled the game from the off. She is a magnificent player on clay and made the semis in Paris back in 2024, as well as the quarters 12 months ago. Her only other run as far as the last eight in a Grand Slam came on the grass of Wimbledon last year, so it will be interesting to see how she gets on at SW19 later in the summer.
Her build-up to the French Open was excellent, as she had won more games on clay than anyone else on the WTA Tour. Anyone betting on this tournament would have done well to heed that fact and at 8/1, she proved an excellent punt. The former junior world number one made it to the final of the Madrid Open in both singles and doubles but lost both. She did, however, win the Italian doubles title, which was also played on clay.
She also pushed Coco Gauff very close in the quarters in Italy, and before that beat Iga Swiatek en route to the semis on clay in Stuttgart. Prior to her good run in Germany, she won the WTA 500 Linz Open on the same surface and so, all in all, her form was clearly very good coming into the second Slam of 2026.
Draw Opens Up
The history books will only show that Andreeva won but closer analysis shows that, like another very young Grand Slam champion of relatively recent years, Emma Raducanu, she did not have to beat anyone of real note to land the title. Raducanu won the 2021 US Open at the age of 18. To win the title at Flushing Meadows, she played three qualifying rounds just to make the main draw. However, once there, she met just two seeds, number 11 and 17 in the quarters and semis, respectively.
Luck will always play a large part in sport and the gods of the draw smiled at Andreeva too. As the eighth seed, she did not have to qualify but the highest-ranked player she faced was 15th seed Marta Kostyuk in the last four. She faced the 18th seed in the quarters and the 27th in the last 32, but also beat two qualifiers and a wild card.
She was slated to face top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the final, but the Belarusian lost to Diana Shnaider (Andreeva’s doubles partner this season) in the quarters. Before that, she might have expected to be playing Elena Rybakina in the quarters, but the second seed was stunned in the second round.
Can Andreeva Push On?
MIRRA IN PARIS!
Mirra Andreeva captures her first @rolandgarros title after defeating Chwalinska 6-3, 6-2. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/MjQCpTmb1E
— wta (@WTA) June 6, 2026
That so many women have become first-time Grand Slam champions over the past 10 years speaks to the fact that none of them has gone on to dominate. The likes of Sabalenka (four Slams) and Swiatek (six) have done very well, but there have been more players who have shown great potential but not quite managed to perform at their very best consistently.
Andreeva feels a little bit different, though. She is so young and yet has already been around for a few seasons. Her trajectory is looking good; she is far calmer on the court this year and her relationship with coach Conchita Martinez seems excellent. After her win, she said that she was “already thinking of … the grass season and how I’m going to play”. She went on to say that winning was “a little bit addicting” and that she “really (wants) to do my best to experience all of this for the second time”. That could spell danger for her rivals.