Broke tennis player couldn't afford a hotel room for her tournament. 2 weeks later, she won more money than her 8-year career combined

Most players arriving at the French Open spend their final pre-tournament hours obsessing over baseline techniques, clay court sliding, or even dissecting video footage of their upcoming opponents. Maja Chwalińska, however, was preoccupied with a much more immediate problem: she didn't know where she was going to sleep over the next week or so, or what she was going to wear at the tournament, according to a June 5 report by the Olympics. This is why she took to the historic grounds of Roland Garros in mismatched outfits picked from her own closet. However, she might no longer have to worry about all this.

A life full of ups and downs

Chwalińska's struggles came to light during a postgame interview. "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. The 24-year-old Polish lefty hadn't booked the hotel past the qualifying round and had no sponsors. So, she had to pay for everything out of her own pocket, which was too much for her. 

Meanwhile, in another instance, she was also asked about her outfit choice when she switched between brands during games. She revealed there was "no story" but the fact that she didn't have a sponsor. Following her statements, she ended up getting some help from a Polish company called Oshee, which also sponsors superstar Iga Świątek. Chwalińska arrived in Paris as the 114th-ranked player in the world. Her aim was simple: To get to the main rounds; however, Destiny had much more in store for her.

Chwalińska made history

Not only did Chwalińska win all three of her qualifying bouts against higher-ranked opponents, but she also went on to win nine straight games, including a semi-final win against the 25th seed Diana Shnaider. By winning this game, she became the first-ever player to reach the championship match through qualifying at the French Open. In fact, she's only the second person to ever do so in the Grand Slam Open era, with Emma Raducanu being the only other player to achieve this feat. 

She's now a millionaire

Unlike Raducanu, Chwalińska couldn't get the final game in the bag, falling short against Mirra Andreeva, the No. 8 seed in the tournament. However, she did secure a massive amount of prize money, which should help her for the upcoming tournaments. By playing for the championship, Chwalińska managed to make a whopping $3.25 million, as per Business Insider, enough to pay for her clothes and hotels as well as training. In fact, this is much more than the $864,030 she had earned during her first eight years while playing as a professional. 

The financial struggle that Chwalińska went through is not unusual among low-ranked players. More often than not, players like her face a lot of issues and even get depressed, which was the case with her. In fact, according to a study by First Look, which looked into the top 100 junior players from 2008, only about 32-34% of top junior players achieve a positive financial balance at the end of their careers. 

As concerning as it seems, it's just the reality of this sport, which is often viewed as quite lucrative by many, but maybe isn't. However, Chwalińska has been able to turn things around. She is now ranked 21st in the world, meaning she won't have to play qualifiers for the rest of the season. 

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