The summer of 2022 took Maja Chwalinska to the familiar surroundings of the Bank of England Sports Club in Roehampton. A world away from the real thing, the then world No 170 worked her way through three gruelling Wimbledon qualifying matches against players ranked outside the top 150 to successfully make it to the main draw. She then marked her long-awaited appearance in the grounds of the All England Club with a big win over the world No 79 Katerina Siniakova before being dismantled in two sets in her second-round match.
For the past four years, that solitary main-draw victory was the pinnacle of Chwalinska’s career at the biggest events. The only other time the Pole qualified for a grand slam, the Australian Open last year, she was thrashed 6-0, 6-1 by Jule Niemeier, the world No 93, in the first round. She has failed to make it out of the preliminary rounds on 12 occasions and there have even been times over the past few years when her ranking dropped so low that she was unable to enter qualifying.
Seemingly out of nowhere, she now stands on the verge of history, a victory away from becoming the first player to win the French Open as a qualifier when she faces the eighth seed Mirra Andreeva in Saturday’s final. Since her first qualifying match on 18 May, Chwalinska, now ranked 114 in the world, has rolled through nine consecutive victories across three weeks, losing one set.
This is certainly one of the top two most shocking grand slam runs in history and it may not be second on that list. The only other result that bears any sort of comparison is, of course, Emma Raducanu’s 2021 US Open triumph, the only other time a qualifier has reached a major final. Considering her complete dearth of experience at the very start of her career, no player will ever have a breakthrough like Raducanu’s, but her inexperience also made it difficult to assess her potential. Chwalinska, however, is a known entity who has been competing for more than 10 years. All evidence suggested something like this was never going to happen.
Chwalinska is small and easily overpowered, standing only 1m 64cm (5ft 5in), but her lack of physical strength has forced her to nurture a different style of play. At Roland Garros she has worked through her opponents one paper cut at a time, constantly varying the speed, spin and trajectory of her shots while putting the ball in the toughest positions around the court. She also has been brilliant defensively. With the added stress and tension in the final weeks of a grand slam draw, she has been an absolute nightmare to face. On Thursday, Diana Shnaider looked like a broken woman in the final moments of their match after failing to find a way past her.
Some players in her position would insist they were always working towards a moment like this, but Chwalinska has articulated the randomness more clearly than anyone. She was so unprepared that, even after her third-round victory, she was concerned she could not afford to keep on paying for her increasing hotel bill. In the middle of the tournament, the Polish drinks company Oshee stepped in to provide her with funds. This will not be a concern after the tournament – she will be at least $1,626,744 (£1.2m) richer after the clay settles.
As she prepares for her first tour final at any level in Roland Garros, her opponent could not have trodden a more contrasting path to success. A moment such as this seemed to be on the cards for Andreeva since her breakthrough as a 15-year-old three years ago. She is one of the most accomplished teenage players of the 21st century and after struggling to handle her emotions over the past year, she is gradually putting things together.
Andreeva should be far better equipped to overwhelm Chwalinska’s tricky game than the Pole’s previous opponents. She is blessed with great feel, anticipation and court sense, meaning she has the skills to match her opponent’s variation. However, much of the battle for the Russian will be keeping her cool and maintaining composure in the biggest match of her life while fully aware she is the prohibitive favourite and every ounce of pressure rests on her shoulders.
