WUHAN, China — Maja Chwalinska pulled off an impressive comeback to defeat Britain’s Sonay Kartal, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, and claim the first tour-level title of her career at the Wuhan Open on Sunday.
The Polish 16th seed trailed by a set and a break before she turned things around to become just the fourth player to win her maiden tour-level title at a WTA 1000 event.
She joins Naomi Osaka (2018 Indian Wells), Bianca Andreescu (2019 Indian Wells) and Victoria Mboko (2025 Montreal) in that exclusive club.
The 25-year-old Chwalinska started the year ranked 146 in the world and provided one of the biggest surprises of the season when she reached the French Open final as a qualifier in June.
“(This title) tastes very sweet. I feel like I still don’t realize that I won,” Chwalinska said in the post-match press conference.
“But it feels special, because after French Open, it was obviously amazing, but then I had some tough moments. I feel like people also were very rough towards me. And it took a toll on me as well.
“I’m just a human. But I kept working really hard and I’m just very grateful that my work paid off.”
The talented lefty will now rise to a career-high No.11 in the world, making her top-20 debut when the new rankings are released on Monday.
“I feel like my energy level was very low at the beginning, but also Sonay played amazing,” added Chwalinska.
“Gradually I started to play much better and much more aggressive. Also, the depth on my shots improved.
“I feel what I’m proud of is the fighting spirit that I had. I just wanted to fight for every single ball and hoped that things would click at some point.”
Kartal, who was contesting her second tour event back from a six-month hiatus due to a spinal stress fracture, entered Wuhan ranked 170 in the world but will return to the top 50 after reaching the first WTA 1000 final of her career. AFP
