Ranked 114th with no sponsor, she won her way to the final

Maja Chwalińska arrived at the French Open ranked No. 114 in the world, with no sponsor and no room booked past the qualifying rounds. The 24-year-old from Poland was paying for the trip herself, and prize money only arrives after a tournament ends. "I actually struggled to pay for the hotel, because you know that we get the check after the tournament," she said in a press conference. Her rotating, brand-jumbled outfits had the same explanation: no clothing sponsor, so she wore what she owned. Then she kept winning. Chwalińska came through three qualifying rounds and dropped a single set across nine matches, knocking out four top-50 opponents on her way to the final. Per Opta, she and Emma Raducanu are the only players in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam singles final straight from qualifying. She lost the final to 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva, 6-3, 6-2. She still left with roughly $1.6 million, per CNN, nearly tripling her career earnings. Her ranking jumped to No. 21. The hotel, presumably, is no longer a problem.