French Open Qualifier Maja Chwalińska Couldn't Afford Her Hotel — Now She's Playing for $3.25 Million

Polish tennis player Maja Chwalińska arrived at Roland-Garros as a qualifier ranked outside the world's top 100, worried about how to cover her Paris hotel bill. She had to win three qualifying matches just to enter the main draw, and prize money isn't paid out until after the tournament ends — meaning even after earning roughly $150,000 by reaching the second round, she couldn't access the funds. A Polish sponsor, Oshee (which also backs superstar Iga Świątek), stepped in to cover her lodging costs.

Then Chwalińska just kept winning. She defeated Russia's Diana Shnaider in Thursday's semifinal to reach the Roland-Garros final — making her only the second women's qualifier in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam final, after Emma Raducanu's historic 2021 US Open title run. She's the first qualifier of any kind to reach the Roland-Garros final specifically. By securing her spot in Saturday's championship match, she guaranteed herself at least €1.4 million (roughly $1.63 million), with the winner's check sitting at €2.8 million (about $3.25 million).

Her ranking is set to rocket from outside the top 100 to approximately world No. 21 — a threshold that grants direct entry into Grand Slam main draws, sparing her the grueling qualifier gauntlet that started this whole journey. Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick called the run "life-changing — financially life-changing" on his podcast. Chwalińska, seemingly overwhelmed, described the moment simply: "Like a dream. I don't know what's going on."

Her Cinderella story has one more chapter to play. In Saturday's final, she faces 19-year-old Russian phenom Mirra Andreeva, ranked No. 8 in the world, who has played six matches to Chwalińska's nine and arrives with fresher legs. Both players are making their first Grand Slam final appearance. Chwalińska, characteristically hungry, said she's already setting her sights on winning the whole thing.