In the delirious aftermath of yet another shock win, Maja Chwalinska picked herself up from the floor, walked to her chair and sobbed into her towel. That outburst of emotion was somehow still an understated response to such an astounding achievement, for Chwalinska, a qualifier, will improbably compete for the Roland Garros title on Saturday after outsmarting the 25th seed, Diana Shnaider, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
The Pole is the first qualifier in history to reach the French Open final and only the second to reach the final of any grand slam after Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open. During her three-week odyssey through two draws, the 24-year-old has lost one set across nine victories. Asked how it feels to achieve such a result, Chwalinska stared blankly into space: “Like a dream, honestly. I don’t know what’s going on,” she said. “I don’t know what to say.”
This is comfortably one of the most surprising grand slam final runs in the history of the sport. Chwalinska has been competing professionally for a decade yet nothing about her career, game or results indicated she was capable of achieving anything like this. She had never previously broken the top 100, with her current ranking of No 114 one spot behind her career high. Before this tournament, she had won one match in the main draw of a grand slam – at Wimbledon in 2022.
She will face another Russian player, Mirra Andreeva, in the final after the No 8 seed rolled Marta Kostyuk 6-1, 6-3. “Let’s not pretend someone expected it,” said Chwalinska. “I mean, I was outside top 100, and now I’m in the finals of a Grand Slam, so I feel like it’s a big thing. So it’s hard to process it.”
Chwalinska was so unprepared for such a run herself that, as she moved through the rounds and her hotel bill racked up each night, she was unsure about whether she could afford to pay it until Oshee, the Polish drinks company, stepped in to help. No matter, she will be handsomely rewarded for her efforts after the tournament and her prize money of $1,626,744 (£1.2m) is nearly double the $864,030 she had previously earned in her career.
Shnaider had been responsible for a seismic result a day earlier as she won the final 10 games of her quarter-final match against the world No 1, Aryna Sabalenka, recovering from 6-3, 4-1 down to reach her first grand slam semi-final. Backing up a monumental win is one of the most difficult tasks in tennis, but the most challenging part of her evening was facing an incredibly crafty, skilful and tricky opponent with a grand slam final on the line.
At 1.64m (5ft 5in), Chwalinska is diminutive and underpowered in a sport dominated by explosive shotmakers. She has made up for her lack of physical prowess throughout this week through her variation and intelligence alongside her courage. Chwalinska confounded Shnaider by cycling through slices, angles and drop shots while robbing the Russian of rhythm. She saved her very best for the most important moments, improbably putting herself one win away from the unthinkable.
