Maja Chwalinska is two wins away from copying Emma Raducanu by winning a Grand Slam title as a qualifier. The world No. 114 has been on a tear at the French Open, coming through three rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw. Now, she finds herself in the semi-finals after shocking 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya 7-6(3) 6-3.
Chwalinska has already caused plenty of upsets this fortnight, also beating Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng and No. 23 seed Elise Mertens. And she has now become the sixth qualifier in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam semi-final. Raducanu is still the only one who has gone all the way to the title.
The Polish qualifier raced into a 5-1 lead over Kalinskaya in Wednesday’s quarter-final, and twice served for it, blowing two set points. But the Russian came storming back to force a tiebreak.
Chwalinska still won the 68-minute opening set in the breaker, and then came through a rollercoaster second set which saw six breaks of serve. The world No. 114 couldn’t serve it out at 5-2 but broke in the final game to book a spot in a maiden Grand Slam semi-final.
She then told the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd: “I honestly don’t know what’s going on. I know I repeat myself, but every single match here is kind of crazy for me, so I’m very very grateful.”
The 24-year-old didn’t show much emotion during the match, but admitted: “I’m happy it looks like that, but I was definitely nervous. It’s normal, you know? I care so I’m stressed, of course, but I try to focus on my job and on my game so I’m happy that I did that.”
And Chwalinska still won’t compare herself to the top players, even though she’s been beating them on her way to the last four. “I mean, I just try to win every match that I’m playing, but I’m not focusing on confidence. I’m playing against the best players in the world, so I won’t compare myself to them,” she added.
The qualifier will now face either world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka or No. 25 seed Diana Shnaider for a place in the championship match. Chwalinska has little time to recover, as the women’s semi-finals are on Thursday, but she knows exactly how she will spend the rest of her day.
“Just sleep, my tea, maybe watching some Netflix, and I’m good!” she grinned.