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.
@1tagupta@ParleFamily@narendramodi Hard to believe that people are so nitpicky! It’s Parle the umbrella brand which matters - and people are rallying around the entity for which they can buy stocks! Enjoy all the hype while it lasts! 🙏
@damienmartyn Once a Champion, always a Champion!! So glad to know that you are recovering well. Rock the world. Best wishes for continued good health and lots of happiness in life. 🙏
The most admirable thing about Akshaye Khanna is how genuinely content he seems with his life. He was at peace before Dhurandhar, and he appears just as undisturbed after the film created a fresh, unprecedented craze around him.
In similar situations, most actors would aggressively monetise the moment with back-to-back interviews, TV appearances, podcasts, and constant visibility to maximise money, relevance, and fame. Khanna, however, has been nowhere to be seen.
The ability to not chase validation even when it’s freely available is a level of self-assurance and inner balance one should truly aspire to achieve.
@_PatilVishwajit Such posts obliterate whatever little trust general public has on film critics. If you re-read your own tweet, you will see how foolish you sound. This movie is running to packed cinemas even outside India! Go on the ground and smell the coffee sir 🙏
@_amitbehere To each his/her own! The way you ‘believe’ that there’s no god, others ‘believe’ that there’s god. So at the end of the day, both are believers, but of different principles and each side thinks they are the better one 😃. Unless it transgresses into others’ lives, no issues
@RavinderKapur2 If that’s the yardstick, then Congress’ most inept person would benefit by joining BJP! He’s wasted his young years struggling for the party, only because he shares surname with a historic personality! 🙏
@thispodcastguy He’s not jobless like you, scavenging twitter for his next scraps! He’s things to do, promises to keep! Public remembers those they don’t want to elect and your favorite leader features in that list.