French Open semi-finalist fears being booted out of hotel despite banking £648k | Tennis | Sport

Maja Chwalinska has admitted she may not have sufficient funds to secure a last-minute hotel room after storming into the semi-finals of the French Open, having never expected to progress so far into the tournament. This year’s French Open has proved to be a rollercoaster ride, with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic both crashing out early from the men’s draw following Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal. Alexander Zverev is the highest remaining seed, as he bids to finally claim his maiden Grand Slam title.

In the women’s singles, Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Diana Shnaider in the quarter-finals, having danced her way through to the last eight. Shnaider will now face Chwalinska in the semi-finals — a qualifier who has remained in Paris far longer than she ever envisaged. She dispatchedAnna Kalinskaya in straight sets to book her place in the last four, despite never previously making it beyond the second round at a Grand Slam.

Having come through qualifying, Chwalinska has played three more matches than Sabalenka throughout the tournament.

She has also pocketed more prize money at this year’s French Open than she had accumulated throughout her entire career, having earned £643,964 prior to Roland Garros, with a further £648,428 now guaranteed.

However, that money won’t arrive immediately, leaving her on the hunt for a reasonably priced hotel room in the French capital.

“Well, I hope there are still some rooms available out there… or that I have enough money, you know? Because I know I earned quite a bit here, but that money doesn’t come immediately. We’ll see what happens, pray for me,” Chwalinska said.

Even after reaching the Round of 16, Chwalinska struggled to grasp the magnitude of her achievement.

“I’m definitely surprised by everything that’s happening. If someone had told me before the tournament that I would reach the round of 16, I probably wouldn’t have believed it,” she said.

“I had never been in such a situation, and that’s why it’s hard to say that I expected something like this. All I tried to do was focus on each match because I knew all my opponents were going to be very tough.”

Chwalinska underwent major surgery in 2022 and has been fighting her way back to peak fitness ever since. Ranked No. 114 in the world prior to the French Open, she will soar to No. 30 once the revised rankings are published.

Alongside her surgical recovery, Chwalinska also stepped away from the sport for mental health reasons, having struggled to cope with the pressures of professional tennis. She broke down in tears upon securing her place in the semi-finals, as her fairytale run shows no sign of ending.

“Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what went through my mind after match point,” she explained.

“There were too many emotions built up. I just felt enormous relief. There were many things happening at once, and I even found it difficult to identify a specific emotion at that moment.”

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