Poland tennis star Maja Chwalinska has continued her dream run in the prestigious French Open as the World Number 114 has beaten No.22 seed Anna Kalinskaya 7-6(3), 6-3 at Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.
The 24-year-old will next face the winner of the quarterfinal between world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 25 seed Diana Shnaider for a place in the final for the first time on Thursday. In a contest dominated by tight rallies and crucial momentum swings, Chwalińska displayed remarkable composure in key moments to overcome the higher-profile Kalinskaya and secure her place in the last four.
The Polish player made the most of her opportunities on return, converting an impressive seven of eight break-point chances compared to Kalinskaya's five conversions from 11 opportunities. Kalinskaya fired the only two aces of the match but was hampered by six double faults, allowing Chwalińska to stay within striking distance throughout the encounter.
Starting the match by losing the opening game, Chwalinska earned successive breaks to gain a 5-1 lead. However, Kalinskaya bounced back by winning four successive games. The set eventually went to the tie-break, which was rather straightforward. After a tight first set, Chwalinska completely dominated in the next and gave away a little chance of recovery as she won the second straight set by 6-3 and moved to the next round.
The match was closely contested from start to finish, with Chwalińska winning 82 total points to Kalinskaya's 69 and claiming 43 receiving points. For the 24-year-old qualifier, who has never been ranked higher than No. 113, it was already her eighth win at Roland Garros this year.
Chwalinska has also registered her name in the history books as she became only the second qualifier in the Open Era to reach the Roland Garros women's singles semifinals after Nadia Podoroska achieved the feat in 2020. No qualifier has reached the French Open final in the Open Era, and she is now one win away from accomplishing that milestone.