Winning is fun, but winning and becoming a millionaire is even better.
Surprise French Open finalist Maja Chwalińska is set to make life-changing money, win or lose, come Saturday’s final.
The tournament offers runners-up $1.62 million and the winner $3.25 million.
That money, however, won’t be paid until after the tournament ends.
For now, Chwalińska will continue to struggle with hotel fees with career earnings under $900,000, per WTA Tennis.
“I mentioned in the interview after the match against Maria [Sakkari] that I actually struggled to pay for the hotel, because you know that we get the check after the tournament,” Chwalińska said in a post-match interview.
It wasn’t until Polish beverage company Oshee decided to help that Chwalińska found a place to stay.
Outside of Oshee, if you count helping with a hotel as a sponsorship, the 24-year-old has no sponsors.
It’s a situation that allows her to have fun choosing what to wear.
“I mean, there’s no story, really. I’m not sponsored, so. I guess that’s the story,” she said jokingly.
The positive attitude has helped her throughout the tournament.
“I feel like I’m in a bubble, I don’t know what’s going on: I’m just very happy to be here,” Chwalińska said after beating 25th seed Diana Shnaider in the semifinal.
“I just try to focus on every single match, give my all, and then after the tournament, there will be time to process it and breathe in, breathe out.”
If not so already, Chwalińska has a chance to cement her place as the Cinderella story of the year.
Working her way through the ITF circuit and WTA 125 events, the No.144-ranked player didn’t even have a spot in the French Open until she made it through qualifying.
Chwalińska will be the first qualifier ever to reach the French Open championship match and has the chance to be the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam since Emma Raducanu at the 2021 U.S. Open.
“Like a dream,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what to say.”
Her opponent is somewhat of an anomaly, too.
Mirra Andreeva, 19, is the first teenager in the French Open final since Coco Gauff in 2022.
The Russian has a history of success on clay courts, holding a 79 percent win rate at the French Open and reaching both the quarterfinals and semifinals in previous years.
