Youngest Roland Garros winner since Monica Seles, Andreeva: Only I know how hard it was

Russian tennis player Mira Andreeva said she did a great thing by winning the title at Roland Garros in Paris and praised herself for the hard work and enormous effort she put in.

"I've been watching Roland Garros on TV since I was very, very young. It's a big deal to win this tournament. I can't believe I'm holding this trophy now, thank you all for making this tournament such a great one," Andreeva said.

Andreeva won the first Grand Slam title of her career, after defeating 114th-ranked Polish player Maja Hwalinska 6:3, 6:2 in the final of Roland Garros.

"Congratulations to Maja on a great three weeks, getting through the qualifiers. You did an incredible job, you worked incredibly hard, you are a very difficult opponent. I wish you all the best for the rest of the season and I hope we play many finals in the future," said Andreeva.

After a lengthy speech at the ceremony, Andreeva said: "I want to thank myself for my hard work."

"I want to thank myself for believing in myself, for giving 100 percent even when it was hard, for trying every day to be better as a person and as a player, for believing that I could do this, for fighting so many demons inside me. Only I know how hard it was for me and how nervous I was the last two weeks, so thank you for working so hard and giving it your all," she said.

At the end, she thanked her fans for their support in her native Russian.

The 19-year-old Russian tennis player became the youngest Grand Slam singles champion since 18-year-old Monica Seles triumphed at Roland Garros in 1992.

She is the 10th youngest tennis player in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title.