Maja Chwalińska found her fortune on the lucky third championship point to win the 2026 Wuhan Open.
The Polish tennis player, who was the runner-up at this year’s French Open, completed a gutsy comeback victory to defeat Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday (18 October).
It has been four months since the world No. 22’s stunning run from the qualifiers to the Roland-Garros final. Thanks to that result and a first WTA 1000 title, the 25-year-old will rise to 11th in the world on Monday.
Keeping her on-court victor’s speech brief, Chwalińska practiced some of her Mandarin with the Wuhan crowd; first by greeting them, before finishing with a heartfelt message: “I love you!”
“I’m obviously very pleased to win the title here,” she continued in her post-match press conference (via the WTA). “It means a lot to me. I really am grateful for this moment. I had a great time here in Wuhan and I can’t wait to come back here next year.”
The left-handed Pole certainly earned her stripes en route to the final, defeating previous world No. 11 Iva Jovic and compatriot Iga Świątek in the People’s Republic of China.
- No hotel, no sponsors, no problem: Qualifier Chwalińska’s dream run to the French Open final
- Wuhan Open: Kartal surprises herself by reaching WTA 1000 final after six-month injury layoff
Wuhan Open 2026 – Chwalińska clinches debut career trophy in China
A maiden career title is the cherry on the cake in Chwalińska’s dream season. She did not even have any sponsors before Roland-Garros and was ranked outside the top 100 in the women’s singles rankings.
Now with financial backing and a rapid rise in the rankings, her first title is no less than a WTA 1000 event, the tier of tournaments right below the Grand Slams.
On the losing side of a two-hour, 43-minute marathon, world No. 170 Kartal does return to the top 50 after six months out with a back injury. The Londoner also becomes the new British women’s singles No. 1 player.
The Asian swing continues with WTA 500 tournaments in the People’s Republic of China and Japan, before the year-end WTA Finals in Indian Wells, USA, get underway on 8 November.
Seven of the eight singles spots have been confirmed, with the final berth to be filled by one of Karolína Muchová, Świątek and Marta Kostyuk.
The qualified players for this year’s WTA Finals singles event are Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Elina Svitolina and Linda Nosková.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/wuhan-open-2026-maja-chwalinska-sonay-kartal-tennis-final-wta-1000
