A 24-year-old Polish tennis player arrived in Paris last week ranked 114th in the world, with no sponsors, no guaranteed income, and no certainty she could even pay for her hotel room.
She had to win three qualifying matches just to enter the French Open main draw. Prize money is only paid at the end of the tournament, so a Polish sports drink brand quietly stepped in and covered her hotel bill.
Her name is Maja Chwalinska. And today, she plays in the French Open final.
Before this tournament, she had won exactly one Grand Slam main draw match in her entire career. She had battled depression so severe that in 2021 she couldn't get out of bed. She underwent knee surgery in 2022. She spent years grinding through small tournaments across Europe just to stay afloat.
Then she arrived in Paris, won three qualifiers, and kept winning. Zheng Qinwen. Elise Mertens. Maria Sakkari. Diana Shnaider. Nine straight matches. One set dropped.
She is now the first qualifier in French Open history to reach the final. The last time a qualifier reached a Grand Slam final, it was Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open. Raducanu won.
By simply making the final, Chwalinska has earned more prize money than her entire career combined. The runner-up cheque alone is $1.6 million. If she wins today, she takes home $3.25 million.
One week ago she couldn't pay for her hotel room.
๐ท๐ธ ๐ฌSerbian-born scientist Gordana Vunjak-Novakoviฤ has been named among the worldโs top five women scientists, receiving the prestigious โFor Women in Scienceโ international award for her groundbreaking work in regenerative medicine.
She is recognised as a global pioneer in bioengineering and human tissue engineering, helping push the boundaries of modern medicine.
Born in Belgrade and educated in Serbia, Gordana Vunjak-Novakoviฤ is today one of the worldโs most cited scientists of Serbian origin. Seven previous laureates of this award later went on to win the Nobel Prize.
Every time I interview someone and they say โjust call meโโฆ.NO. I will learn to say your name and respect who you are because not doing so was a tactic of oppressors to make you feel less than, to make you disconnect from your identity and culture.
An Arabic proverb says; โKeep your house clean like you're expecting guests.Keep your heart clean like you're expecting death.โ This hits deep, a reminder we often forget.