Chwalinska completes Cinderella rise, fighting back to beat Kartal for maiden title at Wuhan WTA 1000

Maja Chwalinska turned her remarkable season into silverware on Sunday, the Polish No. 16 seed coming from a set down to beat Briton Sonay Kartal 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Wuhan WTA 1000 for the first title of her career.

She became only the fourth player to win her first tour-level title at a WTA 1000 event since the format was introduced in 2009, joining Naomi Osaka at Indian Wells in 2018, Bianca Andreescu at Indian Wells in 2019 and Victoria Mboko in Montreal in 2025. Ranked No. 22, she will make her top 20 debut at No. 11 on Monday.

She is also the first left-hander to win a WTA 1000 title since Petra Kvitova in Miami in 2023, the third Polish player to reach a WTA 1000 final after Agnieszka Radwanska and Iga Swiatek, and the first Pole to reach the final in Wuhan.

“I really enjoyed my time here,” she said during the trophy ceremony. “It was my first time too, and it definitely won’t be my last.” Chwalinska paid tribute to her opponent. “Congratulations to Sonay for a great week. You’re a very impressive player. I had the chance to watch some of your matches and was really blown away. I truly wish you all the best, and I’m sure great things await you.”

It was the first final in Wuhan between two players ranked outside the top 20, and the first time since 2021 that players ranked outside the top 50 had reached the finals of consecutive WTA 1000 events, after No. 54 Qinwen Zheng won in Beijing last week.

From Roland-Garros qualifier to WTA 1000 champion

Chwalinska began the year ranked No. 146 and arrived at Roland-Garros outside the top 100 and without a sponsor. She came through qualifying there to reach the final, only the second qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era after Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open. She then reached the semifinals in Singapore last month.

Before this season, she had won only four tour-level matches. She has now won 18 in 2026, and Wuhan was just her fourth WTA 1000 main draw. Her previous best at the level was the third round.

She beat Egyptian Mayar Sherif 6-3, 6-2, Czech Marie Bouzkova 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 and American No. 10 seed Iva Jovic 6-4, 6-1, then reached her first WTA 1000 semifinal by edging past Greek Maria Sakkari 6-0, 3-6, 7-5. She then beat her compatriot, No. 7 seed Swiatek, 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinals for the first top 10 win of her career.

Record-breaking run ends for Kartal

Kartal, ranked No. 170, became the lowest-ranked WTA 1000 finalist since 2009, beating the previous record set by Svetlana Kuznetsova, ranked No. 153, as runner-up at Cincinnati in 2019. Wuhan was only her second tour-level event since she retired with a lower back injury at Indian Wells in March.

She opened with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, then beat Swiss No. 9 seed Belinda Bencic 6-0, 7-5, Italian No. 15 seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-0, Ukrainian No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 (9), 7-6 (5). She became only the second player to beat five former WTA 1000 finalists on the way to a WTA 1000 final, after Osaka in Montreal in 2025. She also became the second British player to reach a WTA 1000 final, after Johanna Konta, and the first to reach the semifinals in Wuhan.

Chwalinska takes home $665,000 and 1,000 ranking points from the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open.