A 24-year-old tennis pro struggled to pay for her hotel. Her Cinderella run at the French Open just earned her a 7-figure paycheck.

Kathleen Elkins Business 05 Jun, 2026 Americas

During an on-court interview after one of her early matches, Maja Chwalińska said she was running out of money to pay for her hotel in Paris.

On Thursday, Maja Chwalińska made history, becoming the first qualifier to reach a Roland-Garros final.
The 24-year-old's win over Diana Shnaider also secured her a seven-figure paycheck.
Earlier in the tournament, she discussed struggling to afford her hotel in Paris.

There's a Polish player in the women's final at Roland-Garros — and it isn't world No. 3 Iga Świątek.

It's Maja Chwalińska, a 24-year-old qualifier who had to win three matches at the French Open just to get into the main draw of the second Slam of the year.

In Thursday's semifinal, Chwalińska took out Russia's Diana Shnaider to secure her place in Saturday's final.

The win also guaranteed her a seven-figure check.

The Roland-Garros champion will take home €2.8 million, or about $3.25 million, while the runner-up will collect €1.4 million, or about $1.63 million.

Chwalińska is just the second women's qualifier in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam final (Emma Raducanu was the first, at the 2021 US Open, which she went on to win), and the first qualifier ever to reach the Roland-Garros final.

She wasn't exactly prepared to stay in Paris for this long.

During an on-court interview after one of her early matches, Chwalińska said she was running out of money to pay for her hotel in Paris. She had already earned roughly $150,000 by reaching the second round, but players receive their prize money after the tournament ends.

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"I mentioned in the interview after the match against Maria [Sakkari] that I actually struggled to pay for the hotel, because you know that we get the check after the tournament," she said in a separate post-match interview.

She added that the Polish company Oshee, which also sponsors Świątek, stepped in to help cover her lodging.

For lower-ranked players, that kind of financial pressure is not unusual. Tennis can look lavish at the top, but outside the upper tier, it is often a self-funded grind. Players pay for travel, hotels, coaching, meals, and the cost of getting themselves from one tournament to the next. A week at a lower-level event can end with a small prize-money check — and a long list of expenses that eat most of it up.

Chwalińska entered Roland-Garros ranked outside the top 100. After Thursday's win, she is projected to jump to around No. 21, a ranking that should give her direct entry into the main draws of the remaining Grand Slams this year, rather than forcing her to claw through qualifying.

As former world No. 1 Andy Roddick put it on his podcast, "Served," the run is "life-changing — financially life-changing."

Asked after Thursday's win what it felt like to reach the final, Chwalińska was at a loss for words.

"Like a dream," she said on court. "I don't know what's going on. I don't know what to say."

She's not done yet. Chwalińska has a chance to double her prize money if she extends her Cinderella run one more match and wins the title Saturday.

"I feel like in tennis you're always hungry," she said after the fourth round. "You kind of set one goal, but then you reach it, and you want more. So, very grateful for this moment, but I definitely want more."

In Saturday's final, she'll face 19-year-old phenom Mirra Andreeva, who's ranked No. 8 in the world and will have fresher legs, having played six matches to Chwalińska's nine. Andreeva is also making her first Grand Slam final appearance.

Here's the full breakdown of women's singles prize money at the 2026 French Open: