In Paris, Chwalinska has played with infectious freedom and joyful creativity, beating two seeded players and Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen along the way.
She kept her composure well against Kalinskaya, first having to reset after letting a 5-1 lead slip in the opener, before reeling off five straight points from 3-2 down in the resulting tie-break to take the lead.
She then held her nerve in the second, recovering from being broken as she tried to serve out victory before clinching her first match point on Kalinskaya’s serve.
“I was definitely nervous. I am stressed, of course, but I try to focus on my job and my games,” Chwalinska said.
“I am not focusing on confidence. I am playing against the best players in the world, so I will not compare myself to them.”
Whatever happens in the semi-finals, Chwalinska is now projected to leap up the rankings and into the world’s top 30.
By reaching the semi-finals, she has also secured prize money amounting to £647,700 – more than doubling her career total earnings of £642,400 in the space of 10 days.
