Chwalinska fights back to deny Kartal in Wuhan final
Maja Chwalinska beat Sonay Kartal 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to win the Wuhan Open final in China on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Pole claimed her first WTA 1000 title, the biggest regular tour events below the four Grand Slams. For Kartal, the 24-year-old Briton, it was a defeat that still carried a sharp rise. BBC Sport
Kartal struck first. She dominated the opening set with deep, steady hitting and then moved ahead by a break in the second, taking Chwalinska's service game for an extra lead.
Then the match turned. Chwalinska steadied her serve and started to win the longer rallies. Kartal's forehand began to miss. The second set slipped away 6-4, and the third went the same way, only faster.
Chwalinska closed it on her third championship point, a chance to win the match, when Kartal pushed a forehand long. Just like that, a final that had looked like Kartal's belonged to someone else.
What makes this stand out is how Chwalinska has learned to finish big weeks. She arrived in Wuhan as this year's French Open runner-up after reaching the Roland Garros final. In China she reached her first WTA 1000 final and took it at the first attempt.
Her semi-final was the warning sign. Chwalinska beat fellow Pole Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1, saving two set points in the first set before running away with the second. WTA
Kartal's run was just as striking. Unseeded and ranked 170th at the start of the tournament, she beat former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(9), 7-6(5) to reach the final, winning two tiebreaks, the first-to-seven deciders played when a set reaches 6-6. Yahoo Sports She had earlier beaten No. 15 seed Jasmine Paolini in just 63 minutes.
For fans, this means context matters. Wuhan was only Kartal's third event back after a six-month absence with a back injury. Sunday was the 10th match of that comeback.
She had been trying to become the first Briton to win a WTA 1000 title since Johanna Konta in 2017. She fell short. But she will climb to 50th in the world on Monday and become British number one for the first time.
Two players chased the same first prize. One got it. The other left with proof her game is back.
