French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska has shown her dramatic breakthrough was no fluke as she won her first title on the WTA tour, shaking off early nerves to beat Sonay Kartal 2-6 6-4 6-2 at the Wuhan Open final in China.
The crafty Polish left-hander deployed a defensive right-handed lob to disrupt Kartal's flow and outwitted the Briton with changes in direction and winners into the corners in Sunday's final of the WTA 1000 event.
Briton Kartal, 170th in the WTA rankings and the lowest-ranked finalist ever in a WTA 1000 tournament, dominated the first set with powerful forehands as Chwalinska's drop shots and slices kept landing wide.
But the 25-year-old, who shocked everyone with her run to the Roland Garros final earlier in the year, then continued where she left off when beating childhood friend Iga Swiatek in the Shanghai semis.
Chwalinska fought back in the second set, dragging Kartal into long rallies and earning three breaks to force a decider.
Then, in only her second final on tour, she finished off the match impressively by winning four games in a row.
Chwalinska will now move to the brink of the world's top-10 while Kartal's reward after her extraordinary tournament just a fortnight after her return from six months out with a back injury, will be a new ranking of 50, making her the British No.1 for the first time.
