More on Maja Chwalinska’s Remarkable… National Bank Open

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It was just last year when we put out an article highlighting Loïs Boisson. Now, another Cinderella run at Roland-Garros has inspired a second article featuring a formerly unfamiliar name.

Maya Chwalinska entered 2026 French Open qualifying ranked No. 114 in the WTA rankings. The Pole, who previously had two Grand Slam main-draw appearances, cruised in her three qualifying matches, conceding only four games in her first two contests before punching her ticket with a third straight-sets win.

The 24-year-old wasn’t unaccustomed to the dirt as she was set to make her Roland-Garros debut. The southpaw’s three WTA 125 titles have all come on clay, her latest came a month prior to the French Open when she shocked top-seed Beatriz Haddad Maia on her way to the winner’s circle in Oeiras. Five of her seven ITF titles have also been on clay.

Chwalinska made some early waves in Paris, scoring a bagel against former Roland-Garros quarter-finalist Qinwen Zheng and world No. 21 Elise Mertens in her opening two matches.

The Pole dropped her first – and only – set of the competition in a comeback against Maria Sakkari in round three. The world No. 114 was soon back on cruise control with a comfortable win over Frenchwoman Diane Parry to reach her second tour-level quarter-final.

Chwalinska then added two more Top-25 victories to her resume, taking down Anna Kalinskaya (No. 24) and Diana Shnaider (No. 23) to make history as just the second qualifier to play in a Grand Slam final, joining Emma Raducanu who did so at the 2021 US Open. The Polish No. 2’s six wins en route to the title match were as many as she previously had on the WTA Tour.

Her run wouldn’t be capped off with a trophy, but Chwalinska certainly made a name for herself throughout an unforgettable three weeks at Roland-Garros. However, the now world No. 21 believes she still has more to show.

“I didn't feel like I'm playing my best tennis, which is kind of weird,” Chwalinska said in her final press conference. “I feel like I gained a lot of confidence, because I've never really played against the high-ranked players before. It was the very first time that I faced them.”

Chwalinska battled through a lot to get to this point. In 2021, the Pole stepped away from tennis for a year, revealing that she had been dealing with depression since 2019. She returned to the tour at 2022 Wimbledon where she qualified for the main draw, and won her first-round match in her major debut. Now, the 24-year-old is expected to return to the All-England Club – this time, as a Grand Slam finalist.

However, due to Wimbledon’s early cutoff, Chwalinska would have to go through qualifying again despite jumping to No. 21 in the WTA rankings. John McEnroe made a strong case on the TNT panel following the Roland-Garros final, regarding the Polish No. 2 being awarded a wildcard, which Wimbledon committee member Tim Henman responded, “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

Chwalinska will have to wait till the hard-court swing before she can officially gain automatic qualification without a main-draw wildcard, with her first WTA 1000 as a seeded player potentially being the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Toronto.

The WTA's best return to Toronto next summer for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers Aug 1 to 13 at Sobeys Stadium. Get your tickets today!

Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak