A decisive battle for the title unfolded on the center court of the French Open. In the women's singles final, Ukraine's second-ranked player and world No. 15, Marta Kostyuk, faced "neutral" tennis player Mirra Andreeva, who holds the eighth spot in the world rankings.
History of the Rivalry and Match Start
Before the decisive match, the head-to-head statistics favored the Ukrainian. The opponents had met twice this year: in January in Brisbane on hard courts and in May in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid on clay. In both instances, Marta Kostyuk emerged victorious, winning comfortably in two sets.
However, the Roland Garros final started extremely poorly for the Ukrainian. The first set was a clear failure: losing two of her own service games allowed Andreeva to quickly pull away in the score — 4:0. Only after this did Kostyuk manage to win her first game, saving five break points. Nevertheless, this game did not become a turning point. Andreeva held her serve to love and closed out the set with another success on her opponent's serves. The score of 6:1 was recorded in just 34 minutes.
The Second Set and Match Conclusion
The second set differed from the first only in details. Marta lost her serve again, allowing the Russian to build a comfortable lead (3:0). Hope for a miracle appeared only when Kostyuk broke serve and narrowed the gap to a minimum (3:4). However, new errors followed, along with losing her own serve again, leading to the final defeat.
This defeat marked Marta's first loss in three meetings against Andreeva. Furthermore, it was the Ukrainian's first loss on clay in 18 matches this year, which was particularly painful following her WTA 250 title in Rouen and the WTA 1000 title in Madrid.
Historical Context and Prospects
Despite the final defeat, Marta Kostyuk's performance in Paris has entered the history of Ukrainian tennis. She became the second Ukrainian representative to reach the semifinals of Roland Garros in singles (including the men's tournament). The first such tennis player was Andrey Medvedev in 1993 and 1999.
Kostyuk also joined the elite of Ukrainian tennis, becoming only the third female player to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal after Elina Svitolina (four times) and Dayana Yastremska (once).
Following Roland Garros, Marta will update her personal record in the world rankings, rising to 12th or 13th place. Previously, two other Ukrainians had secured a chance to play at Wimbledon 2026.