"I wasn't sure if it would come at all" - Mirra Andreeva banishes any doubts of lifting Grand Slam as she bathes in attention

Mirra Andreeva can call herself a Grand Slam winner at the age of 19. That incredible tag was secured after defeating Maja Chwalinska 6-3, 6-2 in the final of Roland Garros to break new ground and cement her name once more as one of the best players in the world.

The tricky Pole was ranked 114th in the world before the tournament began, having to come through qualifying. She blitzed past anyone standing in her way but fell short against a brilliant Andreeva who had hit another level of tennis as the rounds went on, storming to glory to conclude what had been a marvellous clay swing. Now the adrenaline has settled and she has had time for her achievement to sink in, she spoke with Russian outlet Championat about that glorious moment.

The obvious sense of nerves surrounded Andreeva. She has spoke of these occurring before and even after her semi-final win against Marta Kostyuk, and they were still lurking around in force. "I felt nervous, but I slept well beforehand. My mum said she didn't sleep well, only two hours. But I slept wonderfully, probably 10 hours," she said.

"I was nervous this morning because we still had a lot of time before the game. The match was at 3 PM, and by the time I'd woken up and had breakfast, the time was dragging on and on. I thought, 'I wish I could get on the court sooner.' I was really nervous, but as time went on, as I warmed up before the match, the anxiety gradually subsided."

While her imagination varied throughout the prior days in Paris while asleep, no dreams were remembered that night. "By the way, I didn't dream anything that night. Before that, I'd been having vivid dreams about all sorts of things all week. I dreamed about everything. But that night just flew by."

As this anxiety wore off, the confidence replaced it. She grew into herself as the match went on, minimizing the effect Chwalinska could have on her with the tricky style of play that has got her this far already. "I had that feeling after it became 2-3 [in games in the first set]," she commented. "I lost two games, and then managed to break my serve. Then I realized I didn't want to lose or give up any more games. I became more confident, and I was already in the mood to go out and win."

By the time Andreeva cemented her spot in the final, she was still unsure who she was going to play. When Chwalinska got over the line, she knew what she had to do. " After the match with Kostyuk, we went to a restaurant for dinner, and they were just playing the second set. We'd already started watching her and Diana's play, just to get a sense of what they'd both been up to on the court that week."

Her coach, Conchita Martinez, is a former finalist at Roland Garros. She prepared Andreeva as well as she possibly could with the aim of getting the Russian as used to Chwalinska's game as possible. "The next day at practice, we specifically prepared for Maya's style of play," she recalled. "We asked a left-handed sparring partner to mix up the speed, slices, drop shots, all those lobs. We spent an hour and 20 minutes on the court, doing the same thing she does on the court.

"Conchita prepared me 100%. At some point, I was already thinking, 'I'm probably going to play against some kind of monster'. Whatever Conchita told me – "She'll play like this with this ball, she'll do that with this ball" – it was as if she had an answer for everything. I started to get more nervous, but then I somehow calmed down and took everything in stride."

Despite her young age, Andreeva is already very confident and mature, enjoying herself at times with her positive persona with her team and fans. When on the tennis court, things are different and she focuses on the task at hand.

Now getting over the line for her first Grand Slam title, there will be a lot of attention on her. This is something that she does not mind. "I generally enjoy the attention, so nothing has really changed for me. Of course, these are the first two or three days, but I'm still getting a lot of messages, interviews here, interviews there... I really love to talk, so I'm really happy that I've gotten some attention now. I don't think it will add any pressure."

Alexander Zverev said "I'm sure I'll win a Grand Slam this year" at the start of the year and was proven right when he finally got over the line at the French Open. Andreeva did not have that much self belief.

"I actually wasn't sure the Grand Slam would come this year. I wasn't sure if it would come at all. I tried not to tell myself anything about it, like, 'I have to win a Grand Slam,' because so many people were already talking about it. I thought that even if I did win, it wouldn't happen now. Maybe, I don't know, in a year or two. There was no moment where I felt, 'Okay, that's it, I'll win a Grand Slam this year.'"

On the topic of the German, Andreeva was in the proximity when he got over the line, something that she was pleased about. "I was rooting for Sasha Zverev, to be honest. We were sitting above Flavio Cobolli's box because it was the only section with five seats in a row, so we went there. But I was rooting for Sasha Zverev. I really wanted him to finally win this Grand Slam. And I think I was so excited at the end, as if I was playing on the court myself, so I was rooting for him. I'm so happy he did it."

Things have not all been so great for Andreeva this year. Coming off the back of just missing out on debuting at the WTA Finals, she failed to show her best stull when defending her WTA 1000 titles in Dubai or Indian Wells with early exits and a show of anger and emotion on court.

"Of course, last season, at the end, was tough. What helped me was that I reset before the start of the new season. I spent a lot of time with my family. For two weeks, I did absolutely nothing, just rested, didn't think about tennis, didn't even pick up a racket," she admitted.

"After Indian Wells, I didn't have much time to feel sad because I also played doubles at that tournament, and then I had to go to Miami. Playing doubles helped me switch off from singles after such a surge of emotion. Then came Miami – also, I think, not the best tournament. Neither psychologically nor in terms of how I played."

It was not before clay until she hit her stride. "We decided to start the clay season from scratch. It was such a tough, good preparation for clay. And starting in April, I played tournament after tournament without any rest at all. My only day off was after Rome, when I arrived in France, repacked my suitcase, and went to Paris."

In the end, everything worked out. "Those incredible emotions, the euphoria, the adrenaline rush, when you just win a tournament and realize it's a Grand Slam, all came together. The only thing I didn't expect was that those emotions would fade so quickly. Now I'm already thinking, 'Well, I have to train again in two days...' And it's as if everyone has forgotten, and I'm gradually forgetting too. I thought the euphoria would definitely last a few days. But a couple of days have passed, and now I'm thinking, 'Well, I won, and that's it.'"