Victoria Bainbridge noted that Chwalinska remains listed for next week’s WTA 125 event in Ilkley despite her ranking of 113 at entry. She will skip it after reaching the French Open final, where she is projected to rise to world number 21 or even 14 with a win. Chwalinska described feeling in a bubble and expressed happiness at the achievement, saying processing would come later. She added that no one expected her run from outside the top 100 to a grand slam final. Andreeva said she is maturing with each match and working on calm and positive play, having found an effective routine to maintain. Andreeva defeated Fiona Ferro, Marina Bassols Ribera, Marie Bouzkova, Jil Teichmann, Sorana Cirstea and Marta Kostyuk to reach the final. Chwalinska won three qualifying matches then beat Zheng Qinwen, Elise Mertens, Maria Sakkari, Diane Parry, Anna Kalinskaya and Diana Shnaider. Both players have lost only one set, avoiding top-10 opponents until Andreeva ended Kostyuk’s streak in the semi-finals. Chwalinska upset the Olympic champion and several seeds. Andreeva is 19 with a world ranking of eight and five titles. Chwalinska is 24, ranked 114 and without prior titles or finals. They have no head-to-head record. Chwalinska was shown resting backstage. Her path included a 2022 Wimbledon qualifying run and limited prior grand slam success until this unexpected surge through nine wins in three weeks. The run ranks among the most surprising in slam history, comparable only to Emma Raducanu’s 2021 title. At 1.64 metres tall, Chwalinska relies on varied tactics rather than power on the clay.
