Tennis: Chwalińska beats Mertens to reach Singapore semi-finals

Poland's Maja Chwalińska reached the semi-finals of the WTA 500 tournament in Singapore on Friday, beating defending champion Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-1, 6-2 in 88 minutes.

Poland's Maja Chwalińska in action at the US Open (file photo).

Photo: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Amber Searls (cropped)

The Polish player, seeded fifth, dominated from the start against fourth-seeded Mertens, who was playing her first match of the week after receiving a bye in the opening round and a walkover in the second when Barbora Krejcikova withdrew.

Mertens, ranked 19th in the world, struggled to find her rhythm throughout, while Chwalińska played with confidence and variety to seal the win.

Magic from Maja! 🪄

Maja Chwalinska was all over the court in her victory in Singapore.#SgTennisOpen pic.twitter.com/pldY0SFLyD

— wta (@WTA) September 25, 2026

It was the Pole's third straight-sets victory of the tournament, following wins over Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia and Oleksandra Oliinykova of Ukraine.

The result echoed her win over Mertens at this year's French Open, where she beat the Belgian en route to a career-best run to the final.

Chwalińska will next face Leylah Fernandez, who beat top seed Mirra Andreeva 6-2, 7-5 in the other quarter-final.

Regardless of how the tournament ends, the Polish player is set to rise from 25th to 21st in the WTA rankings, matching her career-high position.

The Singapore Tennis Open takes place from 21 to 27 September.

(ał)

Source: PAP