08/06/2026
Roland Garros 🏆
Paris, France 🇫🇷
Week two.
The red clay of Paris tends to give us one of two scenarios.
Scenario one, we see domination by one player.
Rafael Nadal winning 14 Roland Garros titles. Iga Swiatek winning 4 titles in 5 years.
Scenario two, we see the lower ranked and younger clay court specialists eliminating the top seeds and making their way deep into the second week.
This year has been a great example of scenario two.
We have two first time Grand Slam Champions in Paris.
In the Women’s singles, we saw only one of the World’s top 5 make the quarterfinals.
World #1 Aryna Sabalenka 🇧🇾 took on 22 y/o Russian Diana Shnaider 🇷🇺. With a 6-3 4-1 30-0 lead, Sabalenka looked to be on her way into the semifinals. The incredibly windy conditions got the best of the top seed, Sabalenka totally breaking down, Shnaider winning the last ten games in a row to win 3-6 7-5 6-0.
Qualifier Poland’s World # 114 Maja Chwalinska 🇵🇱 continued her fairytale story, overcoming #22 seed Russian Anna Kalinskaya🇷🇺 7-6 6-3.
World #8 19 y/o Russian Mirra Andreeva 🇷🇺 proved too strong for Romanian World #18 Sorana Cirstea🇷🇴, winning 6-0 6-3, making her first Grand Slam semifinal.
In an all Ukrainian 🇺🇦 battle, #15 seed Marta Kostyuk overcame World #7 Elina Svitolina 6-3 2-6 6-2.
The Women’s semifinals saw World #8 19 y/o Russian Mirra Andreeva 🇷🇺 looking focused on Grand Slam success, overpowering Ukrainian 🇺🇦 #15 seed Marta Kostyuk in straight sets 6-1 6-3.
In the second semifinal 24 y/o World # 114 Qualifier Maja Chwalinska 🇵🇱 once again kept her fairytale dream run alive, making her Grand Slam final debut defeating 22 y/o #25 seed Russian Diana Shnaider 🇷🇺 in a tough battle 7-6 6-4. She is only the second qualifier to make a Grand Slam final.
The Women’s Final saw 19 y/o Russian Mirra Andreeva 🇷🇺 make her dreams a reality, defeating 24 y/o World # 114 Qualifier Maja Chwalinska 🇵🇱 in straight sets 6-3 6-2, becoming the youngest French Open winner in 34 years.
A massive congratulations to Mirra 😊🏆🎾
The Men’s quarterfinals provided some awesome tennis.
#10 seed Italian Flavio Cobolli 🇮🇹 managed to eliminate World #6 Canadian 🇨🇦 Felix Auger-Aliasse in four sets 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4.
20 y/o Czech 🇨🇿 Jakob Mensik ended the awesome run of 19 y/o Brazilian Joao Fonseca 🇧🇷 6-4 6-3 7-6.
World #3 German Alex Zverev 🇩🇪 ended the run of 19 y/o Spaniard Rafael Jordar 🇪🇸 7-6 6-1 6-3. Keeping his hopes of a maiden Grand Slam singles title alive.
In an all Italian 🇮🇹 battle, World #104 Matteo Arnaldi moved into the semifinals after World #105 Matteo Berrettini was forced to retire from their quarterfinal clash with a hip injury.
When it came to the Men’s semifinals, crowds at court Philippe Chatrier were a little disappointed.
It would be Alex Zverev and Flavio Cobolli who would return to play for the men’s trophy, after they experienced wildly contrasting routes to the championship match.
Semifinal 1 was a battle of generations. World #3 German Alex Zverev 🇩🇪 taking on 20 y/o #26 seed Czech 🇨🇿 Jakob Mensik.
In a great four set battle, Zverev held on to win 7-5 6-2 3-6 6-3, making his way to a second Roland Garros Final.
Semifinal 2 was supposed to be an all Italian 🇮🇹 battle.
However, World #104 ranked 25 y/o Matteo Arnaldi was forced to withdraw after coming down with a viral infection, sending #10 seed 24 y/o Flavio Cobolli through to tonight’s Men’s Final.
The Men’s Final saw World #3 29 y/o German Alex Zverev 🇩🇪 looking for his first Grand Slam title after three runner-up appearances, taking on Italian #10 seed 24 y/o Flavio Cobolli 🇮🇹.
In an epic 4 hour and 16 minute momentum swinging match, it was Alex Zverev who claimed his first Grand Slam title in five sets 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-7(5) 6-1.
😊🏆🎾
Congratulations to all the players, along with Tournament Director Amélie Mauresmo for an amazing two weeks.