The women’s final at Roland Garros arrives without any of the four players many expected to contend. The tournament’s top four — Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff — did not reach the semifinals, leaving room for two first-time major finalists to meet.

Mirra Andreeva arrived as a dark horse. At 19 she has long been a mix of talent and volatility: capable of sublime form but not yet proven across a full Grand Slam run. In Paris she has found a new level. Since the fourth round Andreeva has leaned on a powerful serve and extended groundstrokes, combining pace, depth, spin and net clearance to construct a near-impenetrable baseline position. In her last two matches she steamrolled Sorana Cirstea and Marta Kostyuk, arriving in the title match in dominant form.

Across the net stands Maja Chwalinska, a qualifier ranked 114th who until this run was scarcely on many radars. The 24-year-old, 5-foot-5, with a loopy, underpowered serve, took attention after beating Zheng Qinwen and Elise Mertens by identical 6-4, 6-0 scores. She has also been noted for a moment earlier in the season when she placed an ice bag on Iga Swiatek’s head. Chwalinska admitted the run has been a surprise. “It’s definitely a big surprise for me, and I didn’t expect it,” she said after reaching the quarterfinals. Reflecting on her semifinal, she added, “I honestly don’t know what was going on in my head,” and described her reaction as shock.

The matchup will be a first meeting and the first major final for both players. They share baseline instincts, two-handed backhands and a reliance on topspin, but their methods diverge. Andreeva presses with relentless power and consistency; Chwalinska relies on variation — high loopy balls, side-spinning slice, sudden backhand drops and precise passing shots — to create openings. Andreeva acknowledged the novelty: “It’s going to be very entertaining, very interesting, as well, because obviously I have never played against her.”

Two questions loom: will nerves influence either player on Chatrier, and can Chwalinska’s loops and chops and drops disrupt Andreeva’s current groove? The answers will determine who lifts the unexpected trophy.

Maja Chwalinska advanced to the Roland Garros final on Thursday, completing a run from qualifying to within one match of a major title. The world No. 114 defeated fellow left-hander Diana Shnaider 7-6 (4), 6-4 to become just the second women’s qualifier in Open Era history to reach a Grand Slam final and the first to do so at Roland Garros.

Chwalinska, 24, produced a composed performance in a high-quality contest. After losing a break advantage in the opening set, she saved two break points to hold for 6-5, then took control of the tiebreak by winning the final five points. The Pole struck 32 winners while committing 17 unforced errors. Shnaider finished with a 33-to-36 winners-to-unforced-errors ratio.

The momentum carried into the second set, where the pair traded breaks before Chwalinska secured a third return game to move ahead. After two hours and seven minutes, the victory belonged to the qualifier.

“I mean, like a dream honestly. I don’t know what’s going on,” she said on court afterwards in Paris. “I don’t know what to say. I’m just very happy.”

This is only Chwalinska’s third main-draw appearance at a major; her previous two were at 2022 Wimbledon and the 2025 Australian Open. With the title match still to come, she has the chance to complete one of the most unlikely Grand Slam runs of the season. Should she defeat Mirra Andreeva in Saturday’s championship match, she would join Emma Raducanu as a qualifier to capture a major trophy.

Chwalinska’s run from the qualifying competition to the championship match is a rare achievement in modern tennis and adds a compelling chapter to this year’s event.

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