Maja Chwalinska and her breakthrough of epic proportions

There has been a kind of romance brewing between Polish women’s tennis players and Roland-Garros in recent years.

Former world No. 1 Iga Swiatek has etched her name in French Open history after winning four singles titles here. Now it’s the turn of her friend and compatriot Maja Chwalinska to hog the limelight after her remarkable run at this year’s French Open.

Ranked 114th in the world and coming through the qualifiers, Chwalinska defied all logic and predictions to reach the women’s singles final in Paris, producing a magical campaign on Paris’ red clay. And even though she lost to a top-ten-ranked player in Mirra Andreeva in straight sets, this was an incredible achievement for the left-handed Pole.

On the back of her Roland-Garros exploits, Chwalinska has not only broken into the top 30 rankings — currently ranked 21st in the world — she has also become only the second women’s player in the Open Era after Emma Raducanu to reach the final of a Grand Slam coming from the qualifiers, after Raducanu achieved this feat in 2021 at the US Open, although Raducanu won her final.

Here, we take a look at the early days of Chwalinska’s career, her playing style, her struggles, and what to expect from her going forward.

Early days and playing style 

Maja Chwalinska grew up in an industrial town in southern Poland and started her tennis training at the age of seven. Before transitioning to the senior circuit, Chwalinska impressed at the junior level and was regarded as a tennis prodigy in Poland. She produced incredible results at the junior level as a doubles player alongside Iga Swiatek, which included winning the Junior Billie Jean King Cup in 2016 and reaching the final of the girls’ doubles at the Australian Open in 2017.

However, Chwalinska’s career didn’t take off like her more successful compatriot Swiatek, who has won 25 career titles so far, including six Grand Slams, 11 WTA 1000 titles, and the prestigious year-end WTA Finals, having also reached the world No. 1 ranking. All Chwalinska could manage was reaching the qualifiers and a few main draws at certain tournaments, while Swiatek went on to win prestigious titles, taking the tennis world by storm.

The 24-year-old left-hander’s playing style is more suited to clay and grass surfaces as opposed to faster hard courts. She has great agility for court coverage, possesses exceptional touch, and is adept at hitting volleys and exquisite drop shots. In addition, she has superb game awareness and an incredible tennis IQ, which we witnessed recently at Roland-Garros.

Her struggles that resonate with most lower-ranked players 

For players outside the top 100, the picture is not so perfect. While the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, and Iga Swiatek have no dearth of brand sponsors, the lower-ranked players usually have to go through a lot of financial struggles with next to no steady income and relatively smaller teams to even compete at the big tournaments.

For context, Chwalinska’s situation was so challenging that she was finding it difficult to even extend her hotel bookings for the next round until a Polish beverage brand, Oshee, stepped in as a sponsor to help extend her stay.

Chwalinska also struggled with mental health issues in 2021 and suffered from depression for a period of about 18 months, which saw her step away from the court. Having received help from mental health professionals, she made a return to professional tennis after a four-month break.

Sportspersons are also human beings and go through the same emotions the rest of us go through. Also, professional tennis is a tough arena, and repeated failures, performance pressures, and financial issues over a gruelling calendar often contribute to both mental and physical duress.

These are some of the areas that the WTA should address in order to ensure that the playing field is a little less challenging and unfair for the lower-ranked players. Having said that, even top-ranked players suffer from fatigue, injuries, and mental health issues, if not financial ones.

Female players on the senior circuit should get appropriate support from the WTA in terms of improved earnings from matches, a slightly more relaxed tennis calendar, and the required health-related assistance to improve their situation, so that we get to witness more of these beautiful breakthrough stories at future tournaments. Not only will it lead to the overall improvement of players, it will also increase that unpredictability factor in the women’s game, which makes it so intriguing to watch. Churning out new talent will be an added bonus, mixing up the draw and further leading to increased viewership.

What to expect from Chwalinska going forward

Chwalinska’s move to the WTA Tour didn’t culminate in outstanding success like her much more popular former doubles partner’s, but by reaching the final at Roland-Garros, coming through from the qualifiers, and playing under the gruelling Paris heat, she has just shot to instant fame in the tennis world.

Since rising from 114th to 21st in the world rankings, a massive jump of 93 places, Chwalinska shouldn’t really focus on big objectives, but rather on small strides through consistent performances. She should be looking to participate in a lot of WTA 250 or WTA 500 competitions this season before aspiring to challenge for the bigger WTA 1000 or Grand Slam tournaments.

Going into the grass-court season, Chwalinska might not receive a wildcard and will probably have to go through the qualifiers again. However, her run at the recent French Open would have given her immense confidence and belief that she can compete against the top performers on the playing field. Grass is certainly a surface where she can perform well, as her net play is really strong, provided she doesn’t get a really tough early draw. The only drawback for her could be playing on the hard courts, as she doesn’t possess the hard-hitting power game required to succeed on that surface. That is definitely an area she could try to improve on by increasing her serve and shot speeds.

For now, though, Chwalinska has well and truly captured the imagination of the tennis world. Not only did she display calmness, composure, and intelligence on the tennis court, but her dignified and humorous off-court persona also endeared her to the fans in Paris. This was her first big run, which also attracted a host of big sponsors that could help her manage her financial situation in a better manner.

This was the kind of breakthrough most tennis players dream of. Chwalinska now possesses that invaluable experience of playing at the biggest stage while also gaining massive insight into dealing with expectations and handling intense pressure.

We hope this unforgettable Roland-Garros campaign serves as a reminder of her undeniable potential and inspires Chwalinska to further develop her game, so that she continues to enthral us with her unique brand of tennis, which came as a breath of fresh air in comparison to the hard-hitting style that is dominating modern-day tennis. We’re incredibly excited to see what lies ahead for her as she begins her journey towards becoming a top, top player!