Maja Chwalinska has delivered an incredible story at this year’s French Open and is on the verge of making history.
Ranked 114th in the world, Chwalinska will attempt to become the first qualifier ever to win the women’s singles title at Roland Garros.
She will also bid to become the second qualifier in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam, following Emma Raducanu‘s fairytale triumph at the 2021 US Open.
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Chwalinska booked her place in the championship match by claiming the eighth straight-sets win of her campaign so far over Diana Shnaider.
Ahead of her final clash against Mirra Andreeva, former US Open champion Andy Roddick had high praise for the Pole.
Andy Roddick reacts to Maja Chwalinska’s run at Roland Garros
Speaking in an episode of ‘Served‘, Roddick said of Chwalinska: “She has an amazingly elite skill. Her ability to run to the spot before it’s hit, her anticipation skills are elite.
“She can hit that high one up on Shnaider’s backhand. She hit over and over, backhand to backhand, and there is no pace on the ball.
“And she has already taken three feet inside the court, so if somehow she does leave that, she has made up to a lack of power with court positioning. She runs to spots and she always leaves the court open for the harder shot for the other person.
“She would get that one up above Shnaider’s shoulder and she would leave the forehand open and shade towards the backhand side and say ‘listen, you might overpower me but it’s going to be with the tougher shot’.
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“Her movement after she hits a shot to shade certain parts of the court and invite her opponents to take risks on an uncomfortable ball is elite.
“Even on defence, she always runs to the spot that is the easiest spot to hit to. It’s not an accident.
“Her ability to move between shots and set the table and pacing and patterns between shots was really fun to watch.”
Maja Chwalinska’s run at the 2026 French Open so far
Chwalinska started her campaign with a strong run in qualifying, booking her place in the main draw without dropping a set.
The 24-year-old won just the second Grand Slam match of her career against Qinwen Zheng in the first round and advanced to the third round of a major for the first time by beating 23rd seed Elise Mertens.
In round three, Chwalinska dropped her first set of the tournament against Maria Sakkari, but came back to emerge triumphant and went on to defeat Diane Parry and Anna Kalinskaya.
After the victory over Shnaider, Chwalinska will now face her toughest test yet: Andreeva.
Andreeva, seeded eighth in Paris, is also looking to clinch her first-ever Grand Slam title.
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