French Open: Mirra Andreeva reaches first Grand Slam final with win over Marta Kostyuk

For the first time since 2022, a teenager has reached the final at Roland-Garros. Mirra Andreeva, 19, punched her ticket to the 2026 French Open final Thursday, beating Marta Kostyuk in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) to advance.

Andreeva was in control early, playing a solid game and capitalizing on unforced errors by Kostyuk. Andreeva breezed to a 6-1 win in the first set, picking up two aces and posting a 56 percent win rate on receiving points. It certainly helped that Kostyuk made 17 unforced errors in the first set.

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Kostyuk showed some resilience in the first game of the second set, coming within a point of picking up the win. Ultimately, though, Andreeva came out on top. After winning the next two games, Andreeva found herself in a similar spot in the fourth game. With both players fighting for the advantage, Kostyuk managed her first win in the set, taking the fourth game. Despite the win, she trailed 1-3 and still had plenty of work to do.

Kostyuk ran with that momentum, winning the next two games to narrow Andreeva’s lead. In the eighth game of the second set, Andreeva failed to gain a single point, suddenly looking vulnerable for the first time all set.

She recovered in the next game, picking up the win and putting her a game away from winning the match. With her previous struggles behind her, Andreeva put Kostyuk away quickly in the ninth game, pulling out the 6-3 win in the second set to advance.

With the win, Andreeva has reached a final at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. The 19-year-old has — unlike many of her competitors — thrived at Roland-Garros early in her career, reaching both the quarterfinals and semifinals at the event in previous years before reaching the final Thursday. Coming into her match against Kostyuk, Andreeva held a 79 percent win rate at the French Open, her best performance in any Grand Slam.

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The win also marks the first time since 2022 that a teenager will appear in the French Open final. Coco Gauff was the last to accomplish that feat. She lost in the final that year to Iga Świątek.

In a French Open where virtually every favorite suffered an early defeat, Andreeva kept on winning. Because of that, she’ll go into the final as the favorite, no matter who she faces.

While Andreeva has experienced plenty of success over her young career, she’s still searching for her first Grand Slam win. If she can pull that off Saturday, it could represent a changing of the guard in the tennis world, graduating Andreeva from a future star to one who’s fully realized her potential.