Polish qualifier Maja Khwalinska has qualified for the French Open final and will face Russian Mira Andreeva for the title on Saturday.
The 24-year-old tennis player defeated Russian Diana Schneider 7:6(4), 6:4 in two hours and 10 minutes on the court, continuing her sensational performance in the French capital and recording her ninth consecutive victory. The match was played under a closed roof on the central court "Philippe Chatrier" due to the rainy weather in Paris.
Khwalinska began her participation in the tournament in the qualifiers, where she recorded three wins, and now has six in the main draw, losing only one set in nine matches. This is her first Grand Slam final in only her third appearance in the main draw. Her best result so far was the second round of "Wimbledon" in 2022.
The Pole, who started her participation at number 130 in the world rankings, was 2:4 down in the tiebreak of the first set, but took the next five consecutive points to lead the score. In the second part, Schneider led 4:3, then requested a medical timeout due to back pain. The Russian still played the match, but was unable to resist Khvalinska, who took the next three games in a row and closed the match to record the greatest achievement of her career.
"It really is like a dream, I don't know what's going on. I don't even know what to say. This is a big challenge for the body, you can feel the fatigue, but the victories help you overcome it. "I can't complain," the winner said in her on-court interview.
Khvalinska became the first tennis player to reach the final of "Roland Garros" after overcoming the qualifications. In all Grand Slam tournaments, a similar case has only happened once before. In 2021, Britain's Emma Raducanu achieved this after winning the US Open.