Maja Chwalinska won her first WTA title at the Wuhan Open on Sunday. The Polish left-hander came from a set down to beat Britain’s Sonay Kartal 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a final that swung dramatically. It capped a breakout year for the Polish star that began with her as a qualifier reaching the French Open final and ended with a WTA 1000 trophy and a career-high ranking projected around No. 11. Sonay Kartal who was ranked as low as 170th coming into the week after a six-month injury layoff, still produced the best tournament of her career and will rise into the top 50, becoming British No. 1.
Sonay Kartal started the match in a dominating fashion. She broke early, dictated with heavy forehands, and won the first set 6-2 in 45 minutes. A second break at the start of the second set put her 2-0 up and within touching distance of the biggest title of her career. Then Chwalinska scripted a great comeback as she extended rallies, mixed in clever drop shots, slices and right-handed lobs, and began winning the longer exchanges.
Maja Chwalinska scripts dream comeback after losing first set
Maja broke back, forced Kartal into extra pressure on serve, and won the second set 6-4 after more than an hour of grinding tennis. In the decider Sonay Kartal’s energy dropped as she made a lot of unforced errors especially on the return, while Chwalinska won four games in a row and closed out the match on her third championship point after nearly two hours and 45 minutes. It was a classic comeback for the Polish star who won her biggest title of her career in Wuhan.
Maja Chwalinska was emotional after winning her first WTA 1000 title and spoke about achieving her goals for the season. “I’m very happy about winning today. It’s such a great accomplishment for me. 1st WTA title and 1000 title. It means a lot. My goal at the beginning of the year was top 100. I think I did a great job.I’ve been playing tennis for 18 years. Sometimes I think you just need to trust that the right things will come at the right time,” she said.
