After having a Cinderella run to the French Open final, Maja Chwalinska‘s form unexpectedly took a significant dip. She only managed to win four more matches in the next four months. Thus, there weren’t many expectations around her as she arrived at the Wuhan Open. But Chwalinska defied all the odds and racked up six consecutive wins to clinch her maiden Masters 1000 title. After the triumph, the Pole admitted that the criticism she received after the French Open affected her mentally.

“It tastes very sweet, I have to admit. I still don’t realize that I won,” she said during the press conference after the Wuhan Open final. “It feels special because after the amazing French Open, I had some tough moments. I feel like people were also very rough towards me, and it took a toll on me as well. I’m just a human. But I kept working really hard. I’m just grateful for my work.”

Notably, Chwalinska wasn’t able to win any matches in five of the next seven tournaments she played. This includes both Wimbledon and the US Open, where she suffered first-round exits. Her only wins came at the Cincinnati Masters and the Singapore Open. Chwalinska reached the semifinals of the latter tournament, but was defeated by Leylah Fernandez 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. She then failed to continue this form in the China Open and was eliminated in the first round by Dayana Yastremska.

However, Wuhan Open proved to be a completely different story as Chwalinska unexpectedly went on a winning spree. While the 25-year-old won in straight sets on a few occasions, there were matches where she had to work extremely hard to remain in the tournament. She made a strong start to her campaign, defeating Mayar Sherif 6-3, 6-2.

Marie Bouzkova proved to be quite a challenge for Chwalinska in the second round. She made a strong start to the match and won the first set in one-sided fashion. However, Chwalinska made a stunning comeback and took the next two sets comfortably to win 1-6, 6-1, 6-1. Iva Jovic wasn’t able to provide much of a challenge to the Pole in the Round of 16 and lost 6-4, 6-1.

Chwalinska was then involved in a grueling encounter against Maria Sakkari. After taking the first set comfortably, the French Open finalist fumbled in the second, and the match was settled in a decider. Chwalinska managed to edge past Sakkari in the end, winning 6-0, 3-6, 7-5. Her most impressive result of the tournament came in the semifinals, where she took on her compatriot Iga Swiatek.

Chwalinska stood on the verge of losing the first set and was down 3-5. But she rallied from behind and went on to take the next four games in a row to clinch the opening set. The second set turned out to be pretty one-sided as Swiatek completely lost her rhythm and Chwalinska triumphed 7-5, 6-1 to reach the final.

She met Sonay Kartal in what was one of the most unexpected finals of the year. But the match proved to be quite a watch as Chwalinska came from behind once again to rack up a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory. This result has lifted her ranking to a career-high No. 11 and has also seen her join an elite list of players.

Maja Chwalinska has joined Naomi Osaka and Victoria Mboko on an elite list

Chwalinska has become just the fourth WTA player since 2009 to win her first title at the Masters level. The other three names on the list include Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu, and Victoria Mboko. She is also the fourth player to clinch her maiden Masters title this season after Karolina Muchova, Marta Kostyuk, and Qinwen Zheng.

Additionally, Chwalinska has also become the first left-handed player since Petra Kvitova in 2023 to win a WTA title at the Masters level. She has joined Swiatek and Agnieszka Radwańska as the only Polish players to lift a WTA Masters 1000 title.

Chwalinska was scheduled to play the Ningbo Open next. However, she has now decided to withdraw from the competition, citing a left thigh injury. As a result, her match with Katarzyna Kawa has now been cancelled.

Interestingly, Kartal has also withdrawn from her next tournament after her tiring Wuhan Open campaign. She was set to play the Japan Open, but has pulled out due to a right knee injury.