PARIS – I was at Roland Garros on Saturday watching Mirra Andreeva manage the moment, the gusting wind, the partisan crowd and the tricky, throwback game of Maja Chwalinska, her longshot opponent.
Andreeva, just 19 years old, passed all of those tests and won the French Open, her first major title. As the Russian teenager hoisted the trophy without the usual trappings because of her nationality — no anthem, no flag raising – I was flashing back to a conversation in Athens.
I was there last month for a tournament organized by the agency IMG and reserved for players under 12 years of age. Clinton Coleman, a senior scout for IMG Tennis, trots the globe looking for young talent, and in March 2019 he found himself in Moscow for a European junior event and spotted a gem.
Andreeva was 11 years old, and Coleman showed me a video he took that day: