Maja Chwalinska went through qualifying at Roland Garros 2026 ranked No. 114 and did not stop winning. The Polish lefty beat Qinwen Zheng, Elise Mertens and Maria Sakkari, then Anna Kalinskaya and fellow left-hander Diana Shnaider, to become the first qualifier in the tournament's history to reach the final, and only the second woman to reach a major final as a qualifier, after Emma Raducanu in New York in 2021. Mirra Andreeva beat her there 6-3, 6-3, but the run carried Chwalinska 93 places up the rankings to a career-high No. 21.
The game is built on craft, not power: slice, drop shots and a two-handed backhand that breaks up rhythm, a style she has called very annoying for other players to face. It took a long road to get there. Chwalinska stepped away from the tour in 2021, at 19, to deal with depression she had been living with since 2019, and has spoken candidly about it since. The comeback was slow, a knee surgery among the setbacks, before results arrived at WTA 125 level in 2024 and 2025, then suddenly in Paris.
One point. That is how close Maja Chwalinska came to a first-round win at Wimbledon, a month after she reached the Roland Garros final, before her ankle gave way and the match turned. Mananchaya Sawangkaew, the world No. 164 from Thailand, came back to win 2-6 7-5 6-2.
Match tale