POLAND PERSPECTIVE

Warsaw celebrates Maja Chwalinska with particular emotion. wPolityce leads with 'Madness over Chwalinska. She will play for the final at the French Open!' The Polish paper documents the improbable run: Chwalinska, from Dąbrowa Górnicza, is only at her third main-draw appearance at a Grand Slam. In 2022 she was in the second round at Wimbledon; in 2025 she lost in the first round at the Australian Open. In Paris she came through qualifying and has already won eight matches on French clay. The paper recalls a detail crucial to the Polish angle: Britain's BBC 'drew attention to the depression the Polish player has battled in the past'. Chwalinska had announced in 2021 that she had been suffering from depression for over 18 months and was stepping away from the court. 'I pushed at the beginning. I thought I just had to stay very strong, tough, and keep practicing', she tells reporters. 'But then I just couldn't get out of bed anymore. I was just lifeless, to be honest. I knew I needed a break, otherwise I just wouldn't be able to live.' wPolityce picks up the New York Times superlatives: 'Her name is Maja Chwalinska.' The 24-year-old lacks both Grand Slam experience and the physicality of most of her rivals, but that didn't matter. The 5'4 player produced clever play that confused Russia's Kalinskaya in cold, windy Paris conditions. The Polish perspective fuses national pride and recognition of mental health as a sporting struggle. Not a word on the war in Ukraine — Poland prefers its heroine from nothingness.