Qualifier Maja Chwalinska’s remarkable French Open campaign rolled on as she upset 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya in straight sets to reach the semi-finals.
The Pole started the clay-court Grand Slam at No 114 in the WTA Rankings with her ranking not good enough to earn a direct entry into the main and thus she started in the qualifying tournament.
The 24-year-old kicked off her maiden main draw appearance in Paris with a straight-set win over former Australian Open finalist Zheng Qinwen before she beat 23rd seed Elise Mertens, Maria Sakkari and Diane Parry to make it to the last four.
Up against Kalinskaya, Chwalinska was the heavy underdog as she was playing in only her third Grand Slam while the Russian was making her 22nd main draw appearance.
But after a nervy start as she was broken in the opening game, the Pole dominated then dominated as she won five consecutive games to open a 5-2 lead, but Kalinskaya then hit back with two breaks to take it to a tie-breaker, only for Chwalinska to edge it.
And she once again had the early advantage in the second set as she broke twice to lead 4-1, but the world No 22 again threatened to make a comeback as she reduced the deficit to 4-2, but then failed to hold serve as the Pole broke again.
Although Chwalinska failed to serve it out at 5-2, she got the job done by breaking the Kalinskaya serve again for a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 win as she became the second Polish player in the Open Era to reach the last four at Roland Garros after Iga Swiatek.
“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. I’m very very grateful,” she said.
Chwalinska added: “I honestly don’t know. I just try to win every match I’m playing. I’m not focusing on confidence. I’m playing against the best players in the world. I don’t compare myself to them.”
She is the second qualifier to reach Roland-Garros semi-finals, after Nadia Podoroska in 2020 while last year world No 361 Lois Boisson reached the last four after being handed a wildcard.
