'Job done and this means a lot': Oktiabreva conquers Roland Garros
Roland Garros girls' champion Alisa Oktiabreva could scarcely draw her eyes away from the glittering silverware she claimed in stunning fashion.
The 17-year-old’s hopes of playing in the Roland Garros main draw were dashed by an untimely wrist injury earlier this year but she was determined to compete in Paris in some capacity.
A semi-finalist at the Roland Garros Junior Championships as a 14-year-old in 2023, Oktiabreva has focused on pro events for the past two years but decided to have one more crack at winning the Roland Garrros girls' title.
Pitted against talented Chinese player Sun Xinran, the right-hander produced a performance of great maturity in testing conditions on Court Suzanne-Mathieu to win 6-2 6-1.
“Every time I will look at it [her trophy], it will mean a lot to me because of the whole process and the hard work we did,” she said.
“We went for the title and we’ve done it. Job done. We can go home now. It's a huge relief, but at the same time it's a big achievement for me, for my coach. It's just pure happiness and a big relief.”
The Russian-born right-hander has lived in Czechia for the past five years and trains at the renowned TK Sparta Prague tennis school, the home of many top players from the country including dual-Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
After her run to the semi-finals in 2023, she injured an ankle and when she returned to competition, she showed great promise on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
She clinched a W15 title in Antalya in 2024 and another W35 title there last year, along with successes in W35 Leme and W50+ Leipzig, with those four successes coming on clay.
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In March this year she won W35 Monastir on hard courts, where she defeated Sun on the way to winning the title, when demonstrating a strong all-court game.
Oktiabreva, who is also a talented violinist, does not have much time to celebrate and will return to Czechia to complete exams at the business academy where she is studying, though she is not particularly looking forward to the challenge presented by one subject.
“I hate computer science. I'm always struggling with it,” she said.
“I should be that generation which is into it, but I'm not really. I'm old-style. As to which subject I like the most, I cannot say. I don't think I have one specific subject I like. I just like to learn what I'll use in the future. I think that's economics for the most part.”
Oktiabreva, who peaked at a WTA ranking of 280 earlier this year, praised her 15-year-old rival Sun when saying the No. 2 seed was performing extremely well for her age.
Post her examinations, Oktiabreva will weigh up whether to return to the pro ranks or contest the Junior Championships at Wimbledon for the first time.
“For sure, I want to continue to play pro events,” she said.
“Now I'm not sure which one is going to be my next one because I have to go back home for some exams in school for the next few weeks.
“I was thinking about playing juniors at Wimbledon, but I'm not really sure. We'll see. It depends where I'll get in.”
Czechia’s Jana Kovackova, meanwhile, made it three straight Junior Grand Slam doubles titles when partnering compatriot Katerina Zajickova to a 6-1 6-4 victory over 8th seeded Americans Jordyn Hazelitt and Welles Newman.
Beaten by Oktiabreva in three sets in the singles semi-finals, she partnered her elder sister Alena Kovackova to wins at the 2025 US Open and the Australian Open in January.
A full list of results from the 2026 Roland Garros Junior Championships can be found here