Maja Chwalinska won her first WTA title at the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open by defeating Britain’s Sonay Kartal 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday. The match lasted 2 hours and 43 minutes, and Chwalinska, seeded No. 16, earned 1,000 ranking points and $665,000 for her victory.
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Chwalinska's path to the title included wins over Iva Jovic, Maria Sakkari, and Iga Swiatek. Despite a slow start, where she lost the first set and faced a 2-0 deficit in the second, she regrouped to take the second set 6-4. In the decisive third set, Chwalinska secured a crucial break at 3-2 and did not lose another game.
Although Kartal hit more winners (32 to Chwalinska's 23), she also had more unforced errors (36 to 27). Chwalinska acknowledged her opponent's strong performance and expressed pride in her own fighting spirit during challenging moments in the match.
This victory marks several milestones for Chwalinska, including her first career WTA title and her first title at the WTA 1000 level. She is now the fourth player since 2009 to win her first title at this level, joining Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu, and Victoria Mboko.
In her post-match interview, Chwalinska shared her emotions, saying, 'It means a lot. It tastes very sweet... I feel like I still don’t realize that I won.' She reflected on her ups and downs throughout the season, particularly following her impressive run to the French Open final as a qualifier.
Chwalinska’s triumph advances her ranking to a career-high No. 11, up from No. 22 just last week, while Kartal's performance moves her closer to breaking into the WTA top 50 after returning from injury.
This year has been significant for Chwalinska, who has also achieved her first win against a top-10 player and dominated at the season's final WTA 1000 event.