Maja Chwalinska's passion and discipline drive fairytale French Open run

Maja Chwalinska’s journey as the first qualifier to reach a French Open final in the professional era is the result of relentless passion and discipline for over a decade.

The Polish 24-year-old brushed aside Diana Shnaider in Thursday's semi-final. She will compete with a Russian opponent for the third consecutive round when she plays eighth seed Mirra Andreeva in Saturday's final.

She has dropped just one set in nine matches at Roland Garros on her way to the final, and old videos of a young Chwalinska have resurfaced on Poland's social media in recent days.

Maja is not the first Polish player in the Paris final - Iga Swiatek, her compatriot, is a four-times winner - but now the nation is getting to know a less familiar name, and discovering how she made it this far.

"To play this sport professionally, I think you need qualities like perseverance," a 13-year-old Chwalinska said in an archived TVP Katowice video.

"You have to keep working on yourself all the time and not give up."

In the same TV interview, her parents spoke about Chwalinska’s discipline routine and the sacrifices she had to make.

"She has her entire day planned out from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.," her father, Tomasz, said, "organising everything around doing her homework at school so she doesn't have to miss training."

"Maja is still a child, but right now she has no time for childhood," added Marcela, her mother. "And she certainly won't have it in the future."

Even then, Chwalinska appeared well aware of the difficulties of pursuing a career as an athlete.

"It might not work out, but in my adult life I would definitely like to do something connected with sports, with tennis," Chwalinska said in another video from 2014.

"And if becoming a tennis player doesn't work out, then I could be some kind of coach or maybe a commentator."

While talking about her love for tennis, the 13-year-old Maja Chwalinska said, ‘Tennis is happiness.’

"Tennis is happiness. It really is. It's simply something wonderful," she said.

"I love playing it and I recommend it to everyone."

Speaking to reporters after her semi-final win on Thursday, Chwalinska described herself as a "tennis freak".

"I just like playing tennis," she said, "I mean, the stage changed, but honestly, I'm just playing tennis and practicing."

Chwalinska played in a tournament in Paris when she was 13 years old, and was asked at the time which Grand Slam she would love to win in the future.

"Well, Roland Garros. Because it's on clay, and honestly I don't really know exactly why," she said, "but somehow... Roland Garros."