Mirra Andreeva will contest her first Grand Slam title after a commanding performance in the Roland Garros semifinals. The 19-year-old became the first player this clay season to beat Marta Kostyuk, recording a 6-1, 6-3 victory in Thursday’s opening women’s semifinal.

“The conditions were very tough today. I couldn’t understand which direction the wind was going,” Andreeva told Marion Bartoli on court. “I’m just happy I was able to stay focused. I told myself to accept everything that happens today on the court. It was a little bit unpredictable.”

The result marked Andreeva’s first win in three meetings with Kostyuk; she had lost their previous two encounters, including the Mutua Madrid Open final in May. Drawing on the experience of a 2024 semifinal at this event, the No. 8 seed sprinted to a 4-0 lead and largely maintained control as gusty conditions complicated timing and movement.

Andreeva’s game plan remained composed and precise. Kostyuk was unable to reproduce the form that had driven a 17-match clay winning streak into the major, and at times vented visible frustration. The only clear lapse from Andreeva arrived at 4-2 in the second set when she was broken at love after a double fault and an errant forehand. She recovered immediately, varying pace to force a re-break and then served out the match on her first opportunity.

Statistically, Kostyuk finished with a minus-19 differential between winners and unforced errors, a telling indicator of how the match tilted. Andreeva, contesting her 13th major main draw, is the youngest woman to reach a Grand Slam final in four years, the last being an 18-year-old Coco Gauff at this event.

The Russian leads the tour with 21 clay-court wins and 35 match wins overall this season. She now bids to become the WTA’s third youngest first-time major champion this century behind Maria Sharapova and Emma Raducanu.

© 2026 Franco Arland

The most talked-about statements at Roland Garros this year arrived before rallies began, as players turned the walk from tunnel to baseline into a deliberate fashion moment. Cameras trained on entrants have made the pre-match entrance one of the tournament’s most visible stages.

Naomi Osaka delivered the tournament’s defining wardrobe story during her run to the fourth round, combining a sequined Nike tennis dress with couture-inspired outer pieces by Swiss designer Kevin Germanier. The creations, built from upcycled Nike garments, included a black beaded jacket, a floor-length skirt and a detachable white tulle train. “If I had to give a short answer, the outfit is a nod to France, to Parisian couture, and sustainability,”

“…The designer that we did end up pairing with just kind of spoke our same language.” Osaka mixed and matched those elements across matches to create a recurring “court-ure” theme.

Novak Djokovic marked his record-tying 22nd Roland Garros appearance with a bespoke Lacoste jacket from creative director Pelagia Kolotouros. The piece, inspired by the colours and textures of the terre-battue, incorporated real clay detailing and featured a prominent wolf graphic across the back, a motif the 24-time Grand Slam champion has long embraced.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka paired a black-and-red Nike dress with prominent accessories from sponsor Material Good, a collection of jewellery that included 23 carats of diamonds and 120 carats of garnets across necklaces and earrings. During Paris’s heat wave cameras captured her pressing a Shark ChillPill personal fan to her face during a changeover.

Coco Gauff followed last year’s leather-jacket moment with two New Balance walk-on looks, each pairing a white bodysuit and mesh-overlay dress in charcoal or pink along with matching headbands and wristbands. Mirra Andreeva and Sorana Cirstea also embraced pink tones. Jannik Sinner appeared in head-to-toe blue from Nike’s 2026 Roland Garros collection with his Gucci x Head bag, while Andrey Rublev and Matteo Berrettini opted for blue shades. Other players displayed brand statements as well, with appearances from Madison Keys, Moise Kouame, Alexander Zverev, Elina Svitolina, Victoria Mboko, Marta Kostyuk, Joao Fonseca and Iga Swiatek.

Diana Shnaider recovered from a deep deficit to beat Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 after a startling swing in momentum. Sabalenka had led 6-3, 4-1, 30-0 and was on a nine-point winning streak, but a series of odd reactions and risky choices handed Shnaider a route back into the match.

Sabalenka followed a confident volley with an unforced forehand into the net, then bent over in clear frustration. On the next point she gestured toward her box after losing the rally. Strange shot selection followed: a forehand drop shot floated wide into the wind, and on break point she went for a big second serve that sailed long. Shnaider, without doing anything dramatic, was suddenly competitive again. From 4-1 up in the second set, Sabalenka lost 12 of the next 13 games.

“I’m still processing everything that happened,” Shnaider said after her win.

Sabalenka offered blunt assessments in her post-match press conference. “No thoughts, no emotions, just want to quit tennis right now,” she began. She said the open roof and wind bothered her, though she acknowledged she had not asked officials to close it and had played well for almost two sets. “How can I complain if almost for the whole match everything was working OK for me, but then it just slipped away?” she asked. “I feel like it was getting crazy maybe just because mentally I wasn’t really OK.”

Recalling the conditions and past difficulties, she added, “I don’t know why would they keep it open?” and reflected on the personal pressure she feels to break through at major events. “I really feel great on clay, I feel great on grass,” she said. “I just think that there’s something in specific moment during the match that happens that, like I lose control over the match.” She concluded, “Mentally, I got into a very deep, dark hole.”

By the end of the session she found perspective. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, I guess.” On recovery she joked, “You know those rooms where you just go in and you smash everything? Probably I will spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff.”