by Bob Stockton
She nearly quit tennis forever. Now she’s one of the greatest Cinderella stories the sport has ever seen.
If you hadn’t heard of Maja Chwalińska before June 2026, you’re not alone — and that’s precisely what makes her story so extraordinary.
Born in the southern Polish city of Dąbrowa Górnicza, she picked up a tennis racket at age seven after being spotted through a school recruitment program.  Nobody could have predicted that this little girl from an industrial city in Silesia would one day stand on the courts of Roland Garros as one of the most talked-about players in the world. But the road between those two points was anything but straight.
A Prodigy Steps Into the Spotlight
A talented left-hander, Chwalińska quickly emerged as one of Poland’s brightest prospects.  Her left-handed style, touch, and court intelligence made her different from many power-based players of her generation. 
Her junior career was genuinely dazzling. Her early potential was highlighted by European U14 and U16 doubles titles and a run to the junior Australian Open final at the age of just 16.  That Australian Open run came alongside a doubles partner who would go on to become one of the most dominant players in the history of the sport — Iga Świątek. The two were close friends as juniors, represented their country together in the Junior Billie Jean King Cup, and finished as runners-up in the 2017 AO girls’ doubles event. They also made their professional debuts at the same tournament in Zawada in 2015 and celebrated their first ITF victories in Toruń the following year. 
It looked like Poland had found its next great tennis star. Maybe even two of them.
The Weight of Comparison
Turning professional brought new pressures that Chwalińska struggled to carry. She won her first senior singles title in Bytom, Poland, in July 2019 and entered the WTA Top 200 for the first time in August 2019.  Progress was happening — but slowly, and always in the shadow of her childhood friend’s meteoric rise.
Watching childhood friend and former doubles partner Świątek become one of the world’s biggest tennis stars only deepened her struggles. “I was incredibly proud of her,” Chwalińska said. “But I felt even worse about myself then, because I knew we were the same age, and she was so high up and winning tournaments. And where was I?” 
That question — where was I? — would become the defining crisis of her young career.
Rock Bottom: The Courage to Step Away
In 2021, after a first-round qualifying defeat at Wimbledon, Chwalińska made one of the hardest decisions of her life. She took an indefinite break from tennis, revealing that she had suffered from depression. Then aged 19, she associated tennis with “pressure, stress and crying,” and did not know if she would ever return to the sport. 
In her own words, the warning signs had been building for a long time. “The break itself wasn’t very tough. The tough moments were before the break,” she admitted. “I was struggling a lot. At the beginning, I thought I just needed to stay strong, be tough, and just keep practicing. But eventually I couldn’t get out of bed anymore. I was just lifeless, to be honest. I knew that I needed to take a break because otherwise I wasn’t able to live properly.” 
She was not the only player to go through this — four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was very vocal about her troubles, which inspired many.  Chwalińska drew strength from athletes willing to speak openly about mental health, and she chose to prioritise her wellbeing over her rankings.
After moving back to live with family and seeking professional help, she rediscovered some enjoyment in the sport and returned after four months. “The results don’t define me as much as they did before,” she said. “I just couldn’t differentiate [between] Maja and the tennis player. I was just one. I just needed time to kind of figure it out.” 
The Quiet Rebuild
Her return to tennis was gradual, humble, and built on a foundation that went far deeper than rankings points. Central to that recovery was her coach, Jaroslav Machovsky. “Six years together, and this relationship is already more like a father-daughter relationship,” she said. “He’s very supportive. He gives me peace of mind.” 
Year by year, she grinded her way back through the lower tiers of the tour — ITF events, WTA 125 tournaments, Grand Slam qualifying draws. She won seven career ITF singles titles and 14 career ITF doubles titles, and made her WTA qualifying debut as far back as 2016.  This was not a player being handed anything. Every point was earned in the trenches.
In April 2026, she won her third WTA 125 singles title at the Oeiras Ladies Open, which propelled her to a career-high ranking of No. 114.  A solid achievement — but not one that suggested what was about to happen in Paris.
Paris, 2026: The Fairy Tale
When Chwalińska arrived at Roland Garros in late May 2026, she had to come through qualifying just to reach the main draw. In the qualifying rounds, she beat Alice Rame, Carole Monnet, and Suzan Lamens.  Then the real magic began.
An incredible journey in Paris saw the Pole defeat Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen, 23rd seed Elise Mertens, Maria Sakkari, and home favourite Diane Parry to reach the quarter-finals.  And still she wasn’t done. She secured her place in the last four with a stunning 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory over 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya, making her only the second female qualifier since Nadia Podoroska in 2020 to reach the French Open semifinals, and just the sixth qualifier in the Open Era to make the final four of a Grand Slam. 
Before the 2026 French Open, Chwalińska had only ever managed to reach the main draw of a Slam on two previous occasions — the second round at Wimbledon in 2022 and a first-round exit at the 2025 Australian Open.  Now, against all odds, she was in the semifinals in Paris.
For Chwalińska, the financial impact was as significant as the sporting achievement. After years of competing primarily on lower-tier tours, her French Open breakthrough instantly changed the trajectory of her career.  She had earned around $864,000 in prize money over her entire career before Paris — and by reaching the semifinals, she pocketed nearly that same amount in a single tournament. 
More Than a Tennis Player
What makes Chwalińska’s story resonate so deeply is not just the on-court heroics. It is the honesty with which she has shared the darker chapters of her journey — the depression, the doubt, the morning she could not get out of bed. In doing so, she has become something more meaningful than another tennis champion.
Her openness made her story more meaningful, especially in a sport where pressure often stays hidden. 
At 24 years old, standing 5’5” and playing left-handed with a two-handed backhand, ranked in the top 30 in the world  following her Paris run, Maja Chwalińska is proof that the path back from rock bottom is possible — that identity is not defined by a ranking, a result, or a comparison to someone else.
She nearly walked away from tennis forever. Instead, she walked onto the biggest stage in clay-court tennis and announced herself to the world.
