Maja Chwalinska of Miechow, Poland has been on a very memorable run at Roland Garros over the last two weeks. Chwalinska, who is ranked 114th in the world, became the second player ever to reach the finals of a grand slam when she reached the final of the 2026 French Open. According to Aljazeera on Thursday, Chwalinska is following in the footsteps of Emma Raducanu of Great Britain, who won the 2021 United States Open as a qualifier.
In the women’s semifinals, Chwalinska defeated Diana Shnaider of Russia, 7-6, 6-4. Chwalinska won the match despite not recording an ace. Chwalinska did break Shnaider three times.
It has simply been a remarkable run for Chwalinska, who has won nine matches just to get to Saturday’s final (three matches in qualifying and six matches in the main draw). Among the players Chwalinska has beaten include 2024 Olympic gold medalist and 2024 Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng of China, 6-4, 6-0 in the first round, 2018 Australian Open semifinalist Elise Mertens of Belgium, 6-4, 6-0 in the second round, and two-time grand slam semifinalist Maria Sakkari of Greece, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the third round.
Chwalinska will next play Mirra Andreeva of Russia in the final. This was the second time in the last three years where Andreeva has had an excellent result at the French Open. Andreeva reached the semifinals of the 2024 French Open before losing 6-3, 6-1 to Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
At the 2026 French Open, Andreeva is seeded eighth. On Thursday in the semifinals, Andreeva clobbered Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, 6-1, 6-3. This will be the first ever meeting played between Andreeva and Chwalinska.
