Maja Chwalińska
Maja Chwalińska is the Polish tennis player who made history at Roland-Garros 2026, becoming the first qualifier ever to reach the singles final in Paris before losing to Mirra Andreeva.
Maja Chwalińska is a Polish professional tennis player, born on 11 October 2001 in Dąbrowa Górnicza, in the south of Poland. Long known to insiders as a gifted former junior, she became a global name in the space of a fortnight at Roland-Garros 2026.
Her achievement in Paris is historic: Chwalińska became the first qualifier ever to reach the singles final at Roland-Garros. Standing 1.64 m tall and entering the tournament from the qualifying rounds, she strung together one of the most improbable runs the French Open has seen in years.
In the final, she came up against the wave of teenage talent that is Mirra Andreeva, falling 6-3, 6-3. The 19-year-old Russian lifted her maiden Grand Slam trophy, but Chwalińska left Paris having rewritten the record books and announced herself to a worldwide audience.
At 24, her breakthrough reframes what is possible from qualifying, and turns her into one of the stories of the 2026 season.