Maja Chwalińska wins first WTA title in Wuhan and climbs to 11th in rankings

A first WTA title in Wuhan

Maja Chwalińska won the Wuhan WTA 1000 final on Sunday, 18 October 2026, beating Sonay Kartal 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on hard courts. The 25-year-old came back from a set and a break down, and it was her first WTA title. Kartal, ranked 170th, became the lowest-ranked player to reach a final at this level since the format was introduced in 2009, according to Europa Press. The Briton had returned from six months out with a back injury only two weeks before the tournament. In the semifinal Chwalińska beat Iga Świątek, who lost 5-7, 1-6.

Speaking straight from the court after the final, Chwalińska described the match in Polish:

Sonay started very well. She completely stopped me from showing my best tennis.

Chwalińska said she was physically tired and short of energy, but kept fighting and believed she could turn the match around.

Jump to 11th in the rankings

The WTA ranking update of 19 October moved Chwalińska from 22nd to 11th, her highest position in her career. According to Niezależna, she is now the third-highest-ranked Polish woman in the history of the ranking, behind Świątek and Agnieszka Radwańska. Interia counted 1,000 points from six matches in Wuhan, her second-largest haul after the Roland Garros final in June. At the top, Jelena Rybakina leads with 9,196 points, followed by Aryna Sabalenka with 7,550 and Mirra Andreeva with 6,306.

Świątek is ninth in the ranking with 4,389 points, and she needs strong results to reach the WTA Finals. Kartal is set to reach 50th on Monday, 19 October, which would make her the British No. 1 for the first time.

Reaction and next steps

Coach Rick Macci, who has worked with Serena and Venus Williams, Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova, commented on the win in a post on X. He gave Chwalińska the nickname "Polski Wiatraczek" in the same post. The official Australian Open account shared a nine-year-old video from the 2017 junior event showing a teenage Chwalińska with Świątek, who are friends. Chwalińska has little time to celebrate, as she opens her next event at Ningbo on Tuesday, 20 October, against Katarzyna Kawa. Świątek is also entered in Ningbo, which runs from 19 to 25 October, and in Tokyo from 26 October to 1 November.