TEENAGER Mirra Andreeva will contest her first grand slam final tomorrow after easing to victory against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk at the French Open.

The 19-year-old Russian has been through some emotional ups and downs over the last year but it had always seemed a question of when rather than if she would challenge for a major title.

Andreeva handled this occasion with total aplomb, ending Kostyuk’s 17-match unbeaten run on clay with a 6-1 6-3 victory.

When Kostyuk’s final forehand flew long, Andreeva threw her racket in the air in celebration.

“I’m still very, very nervous,” said the eighth seed. “I was very nervous coming into this match, she’s had an amazing season. She’s an amazing player, very tough opponent and I’m just super happy.”

The undercurrent of political tension that has flowed through women’s tennis since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago has raged fiercely again here.

Kostyuk was in tears after her first match and came into the press conference room with a picture of the aftermath of a missile strike near her family home in Kiev on her phone.

More attacks prompted the 23-year-old to dedicate her quarter-final win over compatriot Elina Svitolina to “the Ukrainian people and their resilience,” and she was scathing about Russian players who do not call out their government.

“I don’t know how you can sleep at night peacefully when you know that this is going on and you have nothing to say about it,” said Kostyuk.

She was the first Ukrainian woman in the open era to reach the semi-finals here and, whether it was the opponent across the net, the magnitude of the occasion or the blustery conditions, Kostyuk made a poor start.

Double faults and wild errors contributed to her losing the first four games and, although she survived a long fifth game on serve, Andreeva wrapped up the set in only 33 minutes.

Andreeva, the highest seed left in the tournament, handled windy conditions superbly, using intelligent shot-making and relentless pressure to trouble Kostyuk.

Despite Kostyuk winning both of their previous meetings this year, including the Madrid Open final, she struggled to find rhythm here as Andreeva raced into a 3-0 second-set lead.

A brief shift came when the roof closed due to thunderstorms, helping Kostyuk win two games.

However, Andreeva was not about to let the moment slip through her fingers and she wrapped up victory after only an hour and 16 minutes.