PARIS: Maja Chwalinska, the daughter of a coal miner, is living her dream in Paris.Chwalinska, 24, from Dąbrowa Gornicza in southern Poland, arrived at Roland Garros with just one Grand Slam match win in her career. She has since reeled off eight consecutive victories to reach the French Open semi-finals.Chwalinska’s journey has been anything but straightforward. The left-hander, ranked 114th in the world, stepped away from the sport indefinitely in September 2022 while struggling with depression. On Wednesday, amid swirling winds at Roland Garros, she continued her remarkable comeback by beating Anna Kalinskaya, the 22nd seed, 7-6 (3), 6-3 in a last-eight clash.Next up for Chwalinska, whose variety from the back of the court, stands as a refreshing contrast in an era dominated by power hitters, is another Russian, the 25th seed Diana Shnaider.Shnaider booked her place in the semi-finals, surviving a dramatic encounter with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Trailing 3-6, 3-5 Shnaider watched as Sabalenka unravelled on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The Belarusian, on the verge of a milestone 400th career win, dropped the final 10 games as Shnaider took the match 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.The diminutive Pole’s story was the one that lit up the grounds on an overcast day. A childhood friend of Iga Swiątek and her partner in the 2017 Australian Open girls’ doubles final, Chwalinska has overcome far more than her opponents. After a battle with depression that left her unable to leave her bedroom for days on end, she surrounded herself with people she felt safe with, her parents, the now retired Tomasz and Marcela, who still holds her job as a receptionist, and her long-time coach Jaroslav Machovsky.Chwalinska, the second qualifier after Nadia Podoroska in 2020 to reach the singles semi-finals at Roland Garros, played sporadically in 2020 and 2021.“I was struggling a lot and in the beginning I pushed. I thought that I need to stay strong, and just keep practicing,” she said, “Then I couldn’t get out of bed anymore. I was lifeless, I knew that I needed to take a break and honestly I didn’t know if I was going to come back.”One of the things Chwalinska is doing for her mental well-being is staying away from social media.“I post and then I quit, because I just really want to focus on my game. I want to leave the French Open this year without any regrets, I want to give it my all,” she said. “I try to give myself the best chance to play the best tennis that I can. Social media can be a bit overwhelming in these situations.”SABALENKA BOXAryna Sabalenka is in need of a rage room.The world No. 1, who lost ten straight games when serving for a place in the Roland Garros semi-finals, says she wants to spend a day smashing things. “Maybe it will help, maybe not,” she admitted.Sabalenka, who endured a collapse of sorts in last year’s final against Coco Gauff, arrived for her press duties drained of emotion after the 2-hour 12-minute quarter-final.“Just want to quit tennis right now,” she announced, “but we’ll see in a few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.”“I don’t know when was the last time this happened to me, that I lost 10 games in a row,” she said. “I guess mentally I got into a very deep, deep, dark hole, and I couldn’t get back on track mentally.”