Paris: While Paris buzzes around her, Maja Chalinska keeps things simple: tea, a show, maybe a little tennis, and an early night. That’s the routine that has driven the surprise finalist at Roland Garros from world number one. 114 to No. 21 in the live rankings, and he sees no reason to change that now. On Saturday, Poole will face eighth seed Mira Andreeva in the biggest match of her life, determined to stay inside the bubble that has served her so well in recent weeks.Twenty-four-year-old Cholinska has the word “Free” written on her left hand. He declined to say what it meant, but it may have had something to do with his struggle with depression, which forced him to stay away from the game. “I feel like I’m in a bubble, I don’t know what’s going on,” she said after the semifinals. “I just try to focus on each match, give it my all and then, after the tournament, it will be time to process it. A year ago, Chulenska dropped out of Roland Garros after losing in qualifying. Now the 5-foot-5′ Qutb is one match away from becoming the first qualifier to win the title in the Open era. A self-confessed tennis addict, she devours matches whenever she can, using them to study opponents and deepen her understanding of the game. This knowledge is reflected in his own tennis, a left-handed combination of angles, variety and imagination that keeps opponents guessing and has become one of the stories of this tournament.“I’m a tennis fan, I love watching tennis. When I was younger, I watched tennis all day, every day. I feel like it helps me read the game better,” she said, adding that she was grateful she could watch. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal And Novak Djokovic when grown up. “Sometimes I go back to those old matches and watch them play. It feels like poetry.” The daughter of Tomasz and Marcela, a retired coal miner and receptionist, Cholinska was unsure how she would pay for her stay in Paris as she advanced in the lottery. A sponsor stepped in to help. He still doesn’t have a clothing sponsor, but after a fortnight into his life, it’s hard to imagine companies won’t be lining up to support him, whatever the outcome of Saturday’s final.’
