Put on the court: Mirra Andreeva confidently beat Ukrainian Kostyuk in the semi-finals of Roland Garros

Mirra Andreeva was able to break Marta Kostyuk's 16-match winning streak and reached the Grand Slam finals for the first time in her career. The 19-year-old Russian showed incredible tennis, confirming that she is the leader of the WTA tour in terms of the number of wins this season (35) and on clay (21) for a reason. In Saturday's match for the main trophy of Roland Garros, Andreeva will play with the main sensation of the tournament, Maya Khvalinskaya from Poland.

Three for ten

Mirra had an almost perfect path to the semifinals. In the first round of the "major" in Paris, the Russian defeated the Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro. (6:3, 6:3), In the second round, she defeated Spain's Marina Bassols. (3:6, 6:1, 6:1), in the third place — with Czech Maria Bouzkova (6:4, 6:2), in the fourth — with Swiss Gilles Teichmann (6:3, 6:2). In the quarterfinals, Andreeva gave Romania's Sorana Kirsta no chance. (6:3, 6:0).

The most dangerous opponent was waiting for Mirra to reach the finals. First of all, a month ago Marta beat Andreeva in the finals of the thousandth in Madrid, leaving almost no chance for her opponent (the score in personal meetings became 2-0). Secondly, the Ukrainian has not lost yet this clay season, having won 16 matches in a row. The title in Rouen, followed by success at the Madrid Super Tournament and a brilliant game at Roland Garros. In Paris, she beat four-time major clay court champion Iga Sventek (7-5, 6-1) and her compatriot Elina Svitolina. (6:3, 2:6, 6:2), who, after the Roman success, was considered one of the favorites in Paris.

Before the match, it seemed that Mirra's main tasks were to consistently serve the first ball (as in a duel with Kirsty) and stay away from Marta's powerful forehand. And the first set showed that Kostyuk could be beaten. Moreover, the Russian woman simply smashed her rival. In the opening game, the Ukrainian made two double faults and gave up her serve. However, in the second, Marta already earned three break points (40:0), but Andreeva won five draws in a row and confirmed the break. In the third game, the Russian made a magnificent "candle" and two magnificent winners.: 3-0 in the starting 10 minutes.

Mirra took the fourth game straight, and in the fifth she had as many as five break points, but Marta showed character and still took her serve. Andreeva was not upset at all. She scored the next game at zero, and then the first game from the very first set point at the reception.

Mirra and her team were well aware that the second set was unlikely to follow a similar scenario, as the opening games showed. Kostyuk turned on her power and earned a break point, but Andreeva held out. And in the second, every draw turned out to be protracted, and the Russian earned a break in a tight fight and closed the game with a beautiful forehand (2:0). All Martha had to do was spread her arms in the direction of her box. In the third game, Mirra demonstrated outstanding defense, repeatedly getting loose balls (3-0). In the next game, Mirra played two gameballs. On deuce, the Ukrainian again made a lot of mistakes with the forehand, but still soaked up the score after a successful drop shot (3:1).

The local success liberated Kostyuk, but Andreeva took a very important fifth game, where all the draws were as stubborn as possible (4:1). After that, the organizers half-closed the roof of the Philippe Chatrier court. That didn't stop Mirra from earning another break point, but Marta was cool in the key draws this time (4-2). But then the Russian unexpectedly lost the game to zero, allowing her opponent to win back the break (4:3).

Reached the set: Andreeva reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros again

Now the Russian woman will meet with the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.

A convincing rematch

Before the eighth game, the roof was completely closed. Mirra played well in such conditions with Kirsty and then also gave out a great game after an unsuccessful serve. She earned two break points and was able to force her opponent into another unforced error (5:3). By serving for the match, the Russian woman reserved the most difficult draw for herself, winning a long rally at the net, and a double matchball was earned by hitting the line. And Andreeva immediately realized her advantage.

After the victory, the Russian woman could not hold back her tears.

"I was very worried before the match,— Mirra admitted in an interview on the court. — Obviously, the opponent has an amazing season: before this meeting, she had not conceded a single match on clay. Of course, this creates a lot of pressure. Besides, she is an amazing tennis player — a very difficult opponent. But I'm really happy: I'm happy with my performance today, I'm happy that I was able to take revenge, that I finally reached the finals of a Grand Slam tournament. All these feelings together are incredible, I've never experienced anything like this.

Mirra was also reminded that she was among the top 4 youngest finalists in the history of Roland Garros (only Martina Hingis, Kim Kleisters and Coco Gauff were younger).

— I would like to note that the conditions were very difficult: the wind was blowing, and I couldn't figure out how hard to hit the ball, — continued the Russian. — It made the game much more difficult, but I managed to keep my concentration. I told myself to accept everything that happens on the court, because the day turned out to be unpredictable. It seemed like anything could happen. I just decided that no matter what happens, I'm going to fight and give it my all. And if the opponent wins in the end, she will have to really fight for it. It was with this attitude that I won the match, and I am very happy about it. I'm super lucky.

Mirra will play Maya Khvalinskaya for the title, who was stronger than Russian Diana Schneider in her semi-final. The meeting lasted 2 hours and 7 minutes. Schneider never served straight, made 2 double faults and made 2 break points out of 5. Her opponent has no aces, 4 doubles and 3 break points out of 5.

In the second set, both athletes took a medical time-out. It should be noted that Khvalinskaya is the 114th racket of the world. She became the first tennis player in history to qualify for the final of Roland Garros.