Maja Chwalinska came from a set down to beat Britain’s Sonay Kartal 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the Wuhan Open final, claiming her first WTA title at WTA 1000 level and rising to world No. 11, the highest ranking of her career.
Wuhan, China: Months after reaching the French Open final as a qualifier, Maja Chwalinska lifted the biggest trophy of her career on Sunday, finishing a two-hour, 43-minute final against a rival who had spent the week defying her own ranking.
Kartal sets the early pace
Kartal, ranked 170th when the tournament began, took the opening set 6-2. She had returned to the tour only recently after roughly six months out with a back injury, and she had already beaten Belinda Bencic, Jasmine Paolini, Elina Svitolina and Jelena Ostapenko to reach a first WTA 1000 final.
Chwalinska, the 16th seed, had to find another way. She began to stretch the rallies, changing direction and drawing Kartal into longer exchanges.
The second set turns
The match swung in the second set. Chwalinska broke for a 4-3 lead, Kartal broke straight back to level at 4-4, and then the Pole broke again and held to take the set 6-4. The decider was level on sets, and the momentum had changed sides.
Four games to the title
The third set stayed level through four games. Then Chwalinska won the next four. She saved three break points in the decider and closed it out 6-2, finishing a run that had taken her past Marie Bouzkova, Iva Jovic, Maria Sakkari and, in the semi-final, an injured Iga Swiatek in an all-Polish match that gave her a first win over a top-10 opponent.
A breakthrough year completed
The title is Chwalinska’s first on the WTA Tour, and she becomes only the fourth player since 2009 to win her maiden tour-level title at a WTA 1000 event, joining Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu and Victoria Mboko. It follows a run to the French Open final earlier this year, which she reached as a qualifier. The win earned her 1,000 ranking points and $665,000 in prize money, and it lifts her into the top 20 for the first time.
The tournament had lost its biggest names early, with Zheng Qinwen and Mirra Andreeva withdrawing after the China Open final and top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula also gone well before the final weekend. Into that space stepped two players who had never contested a WTA 1000 final. Only one of them left with the trophy, though Kartal’s week carries its own reward: she climbs sharply from 170th in the rankings after one of the more unlikely runs on the WTA Tour this year.
Result: Maja Chwalinska (POL) bt Sonay Kartal (GBR) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Event: Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open (WTA 1000), final, Sunday 18 October 2026
Ranking: Chwalinska rises to No. 11 on Monday
