Two weeks ago, Maja Chwalinska was not even sure she would make it through qualifying. Today, the 24-year-old Pole is in the Roland-Garros quarterfinals. Seven matches, seven wins, and a trajectory straight out of a fairy tale.
Ranked world No. 114, Chwalinska survived three qualifying rounds before embarking on a devastating main-draw run. In the first round, she dispatched Zheng Qinwen. In the second, 23rd seed Elise Mertens. In the third, Maria Sakkari. In the fourth, the last remaining Frenchwoman Diane Parry, swept aside 6-3, 6-2. Each round seemed destined to end the dream, and each round saw Chwalinska push the boundaries of what seemed possible.
Her story extends far beyond the court. Chwalinska broke into the Top 200 back in 2019 at age 17, but mental and physical health struggles stalled her progress for years. She only reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal in February, in Cluj-Napoca. Roland-Garros is just her second.
The parallel with Iga Swiatek is unavoidable. The two Poles were junior doubles partners. Swiatek has won four titles in Paris, while Chwalinska is competing in her very first main draw here. Yet this week, it is Chwalinska who remains in the draw, while Swiatek fell in the fourth round to Kostyuk.
In the quarterfinals, Chwalinska will face Anna Kalinskaya, who herself survived a dramatic third-set tiebreak against Potapova. Neither player has ever reached a Grand Slam semifinal. For Chwalinska, every match is now a personal record. The qualifier has become the third Polish woman to reach the Roland-Garros quarterfinals in the Open Era, after Agnieszka Radwanska and Iga Swiatek.
"No one knows me, to be honest," she said after her fourth-round victory. Paris is starting to learn her name.
