Tennis-Chwalinska’s childhood dream and discipline drive fairytale French Open run

PARIS, June 5 (Reuters) – Maja Chwalinska’s incredible run as the first qualifier to reach a French Open final in the professional era marks the fulfilment of an ambition the Polish 24-year-old has chased with relentless passion and discipline for over a decade.

Chwalinska beat Diana Shnaider in Thursday’s semi-final and will take on a Russian opponent for the third consecutive round when she meets eighth seed Mirra Andreeva in Saturday’s decider.

She has fought her way through nine matches at Roland Garros, dropping just one set, and old videos of a young Chwalinska have dominated Poland’s social media in recent days.

A Polish player in the Paris final is no surprise in itself – Iga Swiatek is a four-times winner – but now the country is getting to know a less familiar name, and discovering how she made it this far.

“To play this sport professionally, I think you need qualities like perseverance,” a 13-year-old Chwalinska said in an archived TVP Katowice video.

“You have to keep working on yourself all the time and not give up.”

In the same TV interview, her parents spoke about the sacrifices the young Chwalinska had to make.

“She has her entire day planned out from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.,” her father, Tomasz, said, “organising everything around doing her homework at school so she doesn’t have to miss training.”

“Maja is still a child, but right now she has no time for childhood,” added Marcela, her mother. “And she certainly won’t have it in the future.”

Even then, Chwalinska appeared well aware of the difficulties involved in making a career as an athlete.

“It might not work out, but in my adult life I would definitely like to do something connected with sports, with tennis,” Chwalinska said in another video from 2014.

“And if becoming a tennis player doesn’t work out, then I could be some kind of coach or maybe a commentator.”

‘TENNIS IS HAPPINESS’

Despite the hard graft and commitment needed, 13-year-old Chwalinska had a genuine joy when playing the game.

“Tennis is happiness. It really is. It’s simply something wonderful,” she said.

“I love playing it and I recommend it to everyone.”

Speaking to reporters after her semi-final win on Thursday, Chwalinska described herself as a “tennis freak”.

“I just like playing tennis,” she said, “I mean, the stage changed, but honestly, I’m just playing tennis and practicing.”

Chwalinska played in a tournament in Paris as a 13-year-old, and was asked at the time which Grand Slam she would love to win in the future.

Perhaps she was influenced by her surroundings, or maybe by the clay courts of her club back home in Bielsko-Biala.

“Well, Roland Garros. Because it’s on clay, and honestly I don’t really know exactly why,” she said, “but somehow… Roland Garros.”

(Reporting by Trevor Stynes in Krakow; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)