Maja Chwalinska and Sonay Kartal were two hugely unlikely finalists for the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan, but they certainly put on a high-quality show in pursuit of the title.
In the end, despite the Brit taking a first-set lead, it was this year’s Roland Garros finalist who emerged victorious after three gruelling sets and two hours and 43 minutes.
This was just Sonay Kartal’s second WTA Tour-level event since returning from a six-month injury lay-off, so it was no surprise to see her start to fade physically as the final went on.
Maja Chwalinska took full advantage of this, elongating the rallies with her unorthodox play style and emerging as the deserved champion.
Speaking at her press conference afterwards, she had nothing but positive words to say about her opponent, not long after Kartal had praised Chwalinska during her runners-up speech.
Maja Chwalinska reviews her Wuhan Open final win over Sonay Kartal
Chwalinska began with a brief assessment of the match: “I played very well at the beginning, but Sonay played amazingly. She didn’t let me play my best tennis, so all credit to her.
“Gradually, I started to play much better and much more aggressively, I would say. Also, the depth of my shots improved. I feel that what I’m proud of is the fighting spirit that I had. I just wanted to fight for every single ball, and I hoped that it would click at some point.”
She then outlined the struggles she has faced throughout her professional career, and actually provided quite an inspirational outlook on how to overcome adversity even when, on paper, everything is against you.
The 25-year-old continued: “I’m not very strong physically at all. I was always slower than others, so I feel I had to develop other weapons. I knew that I had to be a bit smarter, and I felt like taking advantage of the geometry of the court more just made my opponent run a bit more. I want to use every angle I can and every centimetre of the court.”
Chwalinska finished with a look ahead to the future, admitting: “I don’t know what the future will bring.
“Yeah, but I’m for sure very grateful for this place now. My goal was to be top 100 this year, so I think I did a pretty good job. I’m very, very grateful for that. But I feel like there are so many things to improve in my game and in myself.
“It tastes very sweet, I have to admit. I still don’t realise that I won. It feels special because after the amazing French Open, I had some tough moments. I feel 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 very grateful for my work.”
Chwalinska and Kartal have both enjoyed big ranking jumps following this Wuhan Open campaign, unsurprisingly. The foundation has been set for both to enjoy a successful 2027 campaign, should they stay fit.