Poland’s Maja Chwalinska is two victories away from matching Emma Raducanu by winning a grand slam title as a qualifier after continuing her surprise run at the French Open.
The 24-year-old had only won one main draw match at any slam prior to arriving in Paris but extended her winning run to eight matches with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory over 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya in the quarter-finals.
Raducanu famously became the first qualifier to lift a slam trophy in New York five years ago, while Chwalinska follows in the footsteps of Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska in 2020 by making the last four at Roland Garros.
“I honestly don’t know what’s going on,” she said. “Every single match is kind of crazy for me. I’m very grateful.
“I just try to win every match that I’m playing. I’m playing against the best players in the world so I won’t compare myself to them.”
Chwalinska’s game is unusual on the WTA Tour, with the left-hander relying not on the type of power tennis practised by Kalinskaya and many others but court craft and determined defence.
Russian Kalinskaya seemed to have got to grips with Chwalinska’s tactics when she pulled her way back from 5-1 down in the first set to level but the Pole dug in to take the tie-break.
Ultimately, Kalinskaya could not keep her errors at bay, committing 47 unforced, while Chwalinska was ruthless in taking her chances, converting seven of her eight break points.
