will meet Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva in Saturday\u2019s title-decider. <\/a><\/p>\nAfter sending a forehand winner past Shnaider on her first match point on Court Philippe Chatrier and collapsing to the ground, Chwalinska told reporters she felt \u201cso many emotions\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was just in such a shock. You know, just, I don\u2019t know, joy, surprise,\u201d she added of that victorious moment on court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just very, I feel like, overwhelmed also.\u201d Appearing in her first main draw in Paris, Chwalinska, who had on three previous occasions failed to qualify for Roland Garros, has won nine matches across her three-week French Open campaign to stand on the brink of glory. <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have many experiences, many opportunities before to play against such great players and high-ranked players,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s actually the first time that I have this opportunity. I\u2019m happy that I\u2019m taking it.\u201d<\/p>\n
– \u2018Just one more match\u2019 –<\/p>\n
Poland’s Maja Chwalinska reacts after winning the semifinal tennis match against Russia’s Diana Shnaider at the French Open in Paris, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Emma Da Silva)Source: AP<\/p>\n
Chwalinska said her run to the final was \u201clike a dream\u201d moments after beating Shnaider. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on, I just, I dunno what to say. I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m just very happy,\u201d she added to raucous applauseon Court Philippe Chatrier. <\/p>\n
One aspect of her run has been her ice-cold composure on court across. \u201cI\u2019m crazy sometimes also, yeah,\u201d Chwalinska said of her emotions. \u201cBut I try to stay composed because I know it\u2019s the best way for me… But inside there\u2019s a storm believe me.\u201d She added that despite her cool, calm exterior, she was acutely aware that she was on the edge of achieving something monumental. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not pretend someone expected it,\u201d Chwalinska said. \u201cI mean, I was outside the top 100, and now I\u2019m in the finals of a Grand Slam, so I feel like it\u2019s a big thing.\u201d <\/p>\n
It\u2019s an incredible rise for Chwalinska<\/p>\n
Five years ago she took an indefinite break from tennis after losing in the first round of qualifying at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n
Battling depression, she was unsure when or if she would ever return to professional tennis.<\/p>\n
Returning to her homeland, Chwalinska was treated by mental health specialists and took up running and boxing in a bid to recover.<\/p>\n
During this time the 24-year old got a small tatoo on her left hand, \u2018free\u2019.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s meaning? <\/p>\n
\u201cI will keep it to myself. You can make your own stories,\u201d Chwalinska said after her semi final win.<\/p>\n
Four months later she returned to tennis.<\/p>\n
In an intriguing clash of styles between the variety of Chwalinska\u2019s game and the power-hitting of Shnaider, it was the diminutive Pole who earned the first break to get 3-1 ahead before theRussian struck back. <\/p>\n
After edging the first set on a tie-break, the second frame was level until Shnaider requested a medical time-out for a backmassage. After that stoppage, at 4-3, Chwalinska won the next three games to claim victory. <\/p>\n
Poland’s Maja Chwalinska retruns to Russia’s Diana Shnaider during the fourth-round tennis match at the French Open in Paris, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Christophe Ena)Source: AP<\/p>\n
\u201cI will give my all, it\u2019s a Grand Slam final,\u201d Chwalinska said, looking forward. \u201cLet me enjoy this moment for now… I just want to breathe a little, enjoy it today then just recoveras best I can,\u201d she added of preparations for her 10th and final match of the tournament. <\/p>\n
Should Chwalinska lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen come the weekend, she will enter the top 15 in the WTA rankings. By reaching the final she is already ensured of climbing to world number 21. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow I know that my ranking will allow me to play more at the highest-ranked tournaments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess we\u2019ll see how I will continue. For now I\u2019m just trying to focus on just one more match.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Polish world number 114 Maja Chwalinska admitted she felt \u201coverwhelmed\u201d by her shock run from qualifying to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[2095,64,63,11301,347292,347295,2057,2592,41706,347297,2041,2067,2591,347293,160524,2016,27509,347296,97530,158186,7493,158080,347298,85,344039,747,2614,2062,347294,10911],"class_list":["post-715737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-america","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-eastern-europe","tag-emma-da-silva","tag-emotional-rise","tag-europe","tag-france","tag-match-point","tag-mental-health-specialists","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-paris","tag-polish-world-number","tag-professional-tennis","tag-russia","tag-semi-final","tag-semi-final-results","tag-semi-final-victory","tag-semi-final-match","tag-semi-final-win","tag-semifinal-tennis-match","tag-shock-run","tag-sports","tag-suzanne-lenglen","tag-tennis","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-western-europe","tag-winning-match-point","tag-world-number"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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