No handshakes or photos as Russia’s Andreeva beats Ukrainian Kostyuk to reach French Open final
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Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva reached her first Grand Slam final by beating Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-1, 6-3 at the French Open on Thursday.
19-year-old Andreeva converted her first match point when she served the match. There was no post-match handshake between them and Kostyuk left quickly, turning only to wave and kiss the crowd at Court Philippe-Chatrier, which saw some fans draped in Ukrainian flags.
“I’m happy that I’m the first Grand Slam finalist. All these feelings together, it’s amazing,” said Andreeva. “I just told myself that no matter what happens, I will fight and give my best. With this kind of mentality, I ended up winning.”
The situation was tense earlier as the players were photographed separately as they each stood next to two children on their side of the net. Usually the players represent the same image, standing next to each other near the net.
Kostyuk and local woman Oleksandra Oliynykova spoke during the tournament about the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on their country.
Later on Thursday, the other semifinal featured left-handers Diana Shnaider of Russia and Maja Chwalinska of Poland. Chwalinska made it through three qualifying rounds and had never made it past the second round at the top level.
Andreeva saved three break points at 0-40 in her opening service game, then raced to a 4-0 lead with a flurry of forehand winners. There was much excitement when Kostyuk held the fifth game, but the Ukrainian then handed Andreeva the first set when her backhand hit the net.
The roof opens and closes
The semifinals started shortly after 3pm amid sunny conditions and an open roof, just like Wednesday when quarterfinalists Aryna Sabalenka and Anna Kalinskaya complained about the wind in Chatrier and said the roof should have been closed.
It closed late in the second set of Thursday’s semi, giving Kostyuk better conditions for his clay court game. He came back at 4-3, prompting loud applause and chants of “Marta, Marta.”
But he dropped his next service game and the comeback ended almost as briefly as it began, along with Kostyuk’s 16-match winning streak on clay.
“Obviously, he [Kostyuk] you had an amazing season. Until this match, she has never lost on clay,” said Andreeva. “She is an amazing and very difficult player.”
Dabrowski, King lost in the doubles final
Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and her partner Evan King of the US lost their final match at the French Open on Thursday in Paris.
The pair won the first set 6-4 but dropped the next two sets (3-6, 4-10) to fellow Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vassavori.
The Italian duo won a tiebreaker on Court Philippe Chatrier and became the first pair to successfully defend the French Open mixed doubles title since Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Taiwan’s Latisha Chan in 2018 and 2019.
Reigning Italian doubles champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori defeated Gabriela Dabrowski and fellow American Evan King 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 in the French Open doubles final.
This latest victory marks a remarkable achievement for Errani and Vavassori, earning their fourth doubles trophy in the last seven Grand Slam tournaments, a stretch that includes back-to-back US Open titles in 2024 and 2025.
Dabrowski, of Ottawa, will play Friday’s women’s doubles semifinal with Brazilian partner Luisa Strefani. They will face Czech Kateřina Siniaková and American Taylor Townsend in the final.
