Double feature

Times are crazy when you win the French Open tennis tournament, you're only 19 years old, and yet your finals opponent, not you, is the Cinderella story.

But that's kind of what happened to Mira Andreeva of Russia (right), who took home the top prize (about $3.23 million) as the women's singles champ at Roland Garros today. Just as remarkable an achievement was the performance in Paris of Maja Chwalinska, 24, of Poland, who reached the finals having made it into the main draw only by winning qualifying matches. Ranked 114th in the world before the tournament, Chwalinska defeated three other qualifier wannabes a couple of weeks ago, then played seven matches in the main draw, losing only the last one. If she seemed a little tired on the biggest stage, it was understandable.

In the semi-finals, Chwalinska had surprised another Russian, Diana Shnaider, who lost her cool after hitting winner after winner, only to have them returned by the crafty Pole. Andreeva, seeded eighth in the field, had dismantled Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in their semi-final.

Some are putting petty asterisks on the titles that Andreeva and Chwalinska are taking home. There were so many upsets in the earlier rounds that the two who made it to the finals didn't have to defeat the biggest names in order to advance. But hey, the brackets are drawn, the players compete, and the last two who haven't been defeated go head-to-head for the grand prize, the big trophy, and the glory. Nobody's going to remember, nor should they, who the finalists did or didn't play to get their names in the record books. 

The main thing detracting from the newsworthiness of Andreeva's success in Paris is the fact that she's been playing well in the top events around the world since she was 15. She's won Dubai and Indian Wells, and left her mark on all of the majors. It's far from a shock that she has won the title in Paris. 

The men go at it tomorrow. German stud Sascha Zverev, a tortred soul, easily took care of Jakub Mensik of Czechia in one semi-final, and in the other, Matteo Arnaldi caught a nasty virus and forfeited to fellow Italian and 10-seed Flavio Cobolli. Zverev, seeded no. 2, who has come ever so close to a Grand Slam title but never won one, is a heavy favorite to get one, finally. He is 29 years old; his opponent, Cobolli, is 24.