Saturday features the championship matches in both women’s singles and men’s doubles.
Since she earned her first WTA tour win as a 15-year-old at the 2023 Madrid Open, and advanced to the fourth round with three top 50 victories during that tournament, Mirra Andreeva has been expected to become a Major champion. She’s naturally had a few growing pains along the way, but she’s also become a two-time WTA 1000 titleholder. And now at the age of 19, Andreeva has reached her first Major final, and is a considerable favorite to win her first Major.
She faces one of the most surprising Major finalists of all-time, and just the second qualifier to ever advance to a Major final: Maja Chwalinska. The 24-year-old from Poland has come out of nowhere, winning nine consecutive matches across the last three weeks with the loss of only one set. Emma Raducanu famouslywon the 2021 US Open as a qualifier – can Chwalinska become the second person to ever do so?
Earlier in the day, at 11:00am local time, the men’s doubles championship match features the top two seeds: Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos (1) vs. Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten (2). Granollers and Zeballos are the defending champions, and they are also the reigning US Open champs. The team of Heliovaara and Patten are also two-time Major champs, with titles at Wimbledon in 2024 and the Australian Open in 2025. Neither team has dropped a set this fortnight, making for a blockbuster final between the top two teams in the world, who are both playing their best tennis. Regardless of the result, Heliovaara and Patten will become the new World No.1’s on Monday for the first time in their careers.
Maja Chwalinska (Q) vs. Mirra Andreeva (8) – Not Before 3:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Andreeva is 35-9 on the year, and 21-3 on clay. Despite her two WTA 1000 crowns coming on hard courts, clay just may be her best surface. She’s 16-3 at this tournament, which is by far her best record at any Major. Mirra has now reached the quarterfinals or better the last three years in Paris. Like Chwalinska, Andreeva has dropped just one set on her way to this final. She easily overcame Marta Kostyuk in the semifinals by a score of 6-1, 6-3, and Kostyuk had yet to lose on clay this season. As it was in that match, Andreeva’s backhand will be the most potent weapon on court in this final.
It’s easy to compare Chwalinska to Raducanu, but in many ways, the Polish qualifier is an even more surprising Major finalist than the Brit was. Raducanu had reached the second week of Wimbledon earlier that summer in her Major debut, so big results were already expected from her. Chwalinska is six years older than Raducanu was at that time, and she’s already been on tour for six years, with almost no success. During that time, Maja has failed to qualify at 12 Majors, and in the two times she did qualify, she won only one match in total. As Ben Rothenberg pointed out at Bounces, she had never before won more than two matches at any WTA event in her career. Currently ranked 114th in the world, Chwalinska now sits at No.21 in the live rankings, and if she were to win on Saturday, would go all the way to No.14, moving up a full 100 spots.
The left-hander has accomplished this with an uncommon style featuring lots of drop shots, and an alarming amount of composure given her lack of experience. She’s defeated two seeded Russians in a row (Kalinskaya, Shnaider) in straight sets, and now looks to defeat a third. While this is her first final at tour level, she’s 3-0 in finals at 125-level. And Chwalinska notched three decisive victories in those finals, which all came on clay.
Andreeva has earned a reputation of failing to control her emotions on court, but she’s shown great growth in that area during this event. However, can she remain composed during the biggest match of his career? Chwalinska will certainly have the majority of crowd support on Saturday, not only as a huge underdog, but also with a fun style of play that French fans appreciate. And we’ve seen in the past how Andreeva can let crowds get to her. A year ago at this same event, she had a meltdown on Court Philippe-Chartrier when the crowd got fully behind French qualifier Lois Boisson during the quarterfinals.
If she can maintain her focus in this final, Andreeva should become a Major champion. But in a tournament that has featured so many surprises, a Chwalinska victory is far from unfathomable, and would actually be fitting.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
