Mirra Andreeva proved too strong for her unheralded opponent as the Russian teenager stormed to the French Open title with a straight sets win over qualifier Maja Chwalinska.
Andreeva, 19, had shown great maturity to navigate the politically-charged semi-final against Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-1 6-3.
She was on song against her Polish opponent who had surprised one and all by reaching the final at Roland Garros.
Andreeva got better as the match wore on as she eased to a 6-3, 6-2 win on Saturday.
“I've been watching Roland Garros on TV since I was very, very young,” Andreeva said during the trophy presentation. “It's also a big dream of mine to win this tournament, and I honestly cannot believe that I'm holding this trophy right now.”
There were some nerves at play on both sides, while the wind was an extra complicating factor, and some of the early exchanges were tentative.
Chwalinska was the first player to hold serve in the fifth game, prompting wild celebrations from her army of red-and-white clad fans, but slowly Andreeva began to get a handle on how to combat the unorthodox patterns of her opponent and four games in a row gave her the opening set.
Left-hander Chwalinska's unusual use of spins and lack of pace had bamboozled previous opponents but Andreeva was a step up in class, the first top-10 player the Pole had ever faced, and she began to look more and more comfortable.
Andreeva broke to go 2-0 up in the second set after yet another unforced forehand error from Chwalinska, who wasted three break points and dropped serve again to fall 4-0 behind.
Chwalinska pulled a break back and rallied to 5-2 down, only for Andreeva to seal victory and the title on her opponent's serve with a crosscourt back-hand winner.
The Russian became the youngest Roland Garros women’s singles winner since Monica Seles won her third straight title in 1992 aged 18.
Winning the first Grand Slam had been Andreeva's dream for a long time and on Saturday she fulfilled it.
“I never actually thought that I'd be able to win, I don't know, big tournaments, or be in a Grand Slam final. It was just all my dreams, everything that I have been dreaming of,” Andreeva had said after her semi-final win.
“I would say that this is, I don't know how other players think about it, but for me personally it's like the number one goal in my life. The most important thing. I wouldn't think I would be very close to that.”
Andreeva had been making steady progress under coach Conchita Martinez, reaching the Roland Garros quarter-finals 12 months ago.
The 19-year-old also became the first teenager to win the Roland Garros crown since Pole Iga Swiatek in 2020.
For her opponent, it was a case of so near yet so far.
Chwalinska, who is ranked 114th, arrived in Paris as one of 128 players just hoping to make it through to the main draw and without ever having beaten a top-50 player.
She then beat four in a row as well as Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, and hoped to match Emma Raducanu's achievement in New York five years ago, when the then 18-year-old became the first qualifier to win a major title.
