Chwalinska finds both magic touch and winning moves in Singapore

Three months on from her historic run to the Roland Garros final as a qualifier, Maja Chwalinska's potential to build on it remains unproven.

Wins have been hard to come by for the Pole -- between Roland Garros and the US Open, she compiled just a 1-5 record. But there were plenty of mitigating factors against her results being termed a slump just yet. Chwalinska injured her ankle up match point against Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the Wimbledon first round; visibly hampered, she went on to lose that match. She suffered another opening exit at the US Open -- but her opponent, Taylor Townsend, was undoubtedly one of the most dangerous unseeded players in the draw.

Kicking off the first Asian Swing of her career, Chwalinska returned to winning ways in impressive fashion, defeating wild card Rebecca Sramkova 6-4, 6-2 in the Singapore Tennis Open first round on Monday. The No. 5 seed stuttered when closing out the first set, which she had led 5-2, but her signature wizardry was on full display as she imposed herself in the second.

Chwalinska's most magical moment also helped her tighten her grip on the scoreboard. At 3-2 in the second set, Sramkova slammed a first serve out wide, and Chwalinska barely managed to get her racquet on the ball for the return. Despite that, she managed to load it with so much backspin that it dropped just over the net -- then bounced back on Chwalinska's side of the court, a literally unreturnable stroke of genius.

It also gave Chwalinska a pair of break points, duly converted, and the 24-year-old did not concede another game. 

"I'm very happy with the win today," she said in her on-court interview. "Every win counts, and every first match is tough. Very happy to get through it."

Chwalinska will next face either Oleksandra Oliynykova or Vivian Wolff in the second round.

Earlier, Aliaksandra Sasnovich defeated Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 6-0 to set up a second-round meeting with No. 1 seed and Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva. Qualifier Nao Hibino, 31, came through an entertaining throwback encounter against 33-year-old former No. 10 Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in 2 hours and 20 minutes. The Frenchwoman -- who claimed her seventh Grand Slam doubles trophy at Wimbledon this year -- showed off plenty of finesse in the first two sets, but paid the price for missing two set points at 5-4 in the opener. Hibino surged in the home stretch to score her first main-draw win at WTA 500 level or above since Roland Garros 2025.