Who is Maja Chwalinska? What to Know About the Cinderella Story of the 2026 French Open

Chwalinska is currently ranked No. 114 in the world. | Susan Mullane-Imagn Images

Something very fairy tale-esque is happening at Roland Garros right now: Polish tennis player Maja Chwalinska has punched her ticket to the women's final.

Now, that is a shock for a number of reasons. For one, Chwalinska is currently ranked 114th in the world, which means she outlasted world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Iga Swiatek, and No. 4 Coco Gauff, among others, to make it to this point. And for another reason—she came into the tournament through the qualifying rounds, where she defeated Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands in straight sets.

Because of that, Chwalinska is now the first women's singles qualifier to make the final in French Open history. She will take on No. 8 Mirra Andreeva in the championship match.

Jazda Maja 🇵🇱#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/9daStziM7E

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2026

In light of her historic achievementand her thrilling Cinderella run, let's take a peek at Chwalinska's background and her path to the championship match at Roland Garros.

Who is Maja Chwalinska?

Maja Chwalinska is a 24-year-old tennis player from Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland. She initially started playing tennis at the age of 7, and counts the "Big Three"—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic—among her inspirations. Her career-high WTA ranking is 113, and she therefore competes mainly on the ITF circuit and with WTA 125 events.

Off the court, she enjoys shopping, hanging out with friends and going for a coffee or a tea.

"I like to have fun," she recently told the WTA. "I love people as well, so I think I'm friendly as well."

Five years ago, Chwalinska took an indefinite hiatus from tennis to deal with a debilitating battle with depression. The break lasted about four months, and she subsequently found her way back to the circuit—this time, with a new mindset.

"The results don't define me as much as they did before," Chwalinska said. "I just couldn't differentiate, like, Maja and tennis player. I was just one. I just needed time to kind of figure it out, and also do something else—not just tennis.

"I only played tennis and I felt that it's only tennis out there. But I just know that there are many more things outside tennis that you can do and you can enjoy. I think that I needed time to figure things out for myself."

The 2026 French Open is Chwalinska's third Grand Slam main draw and her first at Roland Garros. Before this, she had never even defeated a top-50 opponent.

What will she get for making the final?

Chwalinska will enjoy a big bump in ranking plus a nice cash windfall, regardless of what happens when she takes the court on Saturday. Just for reaching the final, she'll enjoy 1300 ranking points, which means she will likely be ranked at least No. 21 coming out of the tournament.

She'll also receive at least $1.625 million in prize money, which is notably $760,970 more than her career earnings of $864,030. Wild.

Moreover, the 24-year-old will be able to compete in more tour level events once her ranking has improved.

How did Chwalinska get here?

The 2026 French Open has been, in a word, chaos.

By the time the semifinals had rolled around, just one of the top-10 seeded players (Andreeva) remained.

World No. 1 Sabalenka, who has yet to win at Roland Garros, was eliminated in the quarterfinals by 25-seed Diana Shnaider, 6-3, 5-7, 0-6. Fellow Polish player and No. 3-seed Iga Swiatek went out in the fourth. Even reigning champion Coco Gauff (No. 4) exited in the third round following a loss to Anastasia Potapova.

All that to say—if there were ever a year for a Cinderella story to emerge, it would be this one. But that shouldn't take away from the magnitude of what Chwalinska has achieved; she still had to win all those matches.

Here is a look at the path she charted to the final:

Qualifying Women's Singles:

First round:
vs. A.Rame (6-0, 6-3)

Second round:
vs. C.Monnet (6-0, 6-1)

Third round:
vs. S.Lamens (7-6(4), 7-5)

Women's Singles:

First round:
vs. Q.Zheng (6-4, 6-0)

Second round:
vs. E.Mertens (6-4, 6-0)

Third round:
vs. M.Sakkari (1-6, 6-3, 6-2)

Fourth round:
vs. D. Parry (6-3, 6-2)

Quarterfinals:
vs. A.Kalinskaya (7-6(3), 6-3)

Semifinals:
vs. D. Shnaider (7-6(4), 6-4)

When is the women's French Open final?

Chwalinska will face Mira Andreeva on Saturday, June 6.

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