–
ROLAND GARROS – Maja Chwalinska has always played tennis this way.
But these last three weeks in Paris, this throwback game has come into fashion.
And if most tennis fans had never heard of her, that’s understandable. She has long toiled at the lower levels of the game, befuddling players sometimes, and being overpowered many other times. And, like so many players at her level, she has gotten close to that invisible, impenetrable barrier: the top 100. So many get close, and either they’ve maximized their level or that big symbolic step has proved just a little too steep.
Chwalinska didn’t just push her way through that barrier at this Roland Garros; she bulldozed it. No. 114 in the rankings coming in, relegated to playing the qualifying at Grand Slams but making it through only twice in 14 previous opportunities.
Some of the players who have beaten her at that stage: Isabella Shinikova, Yuan Yue (ranked No. 232 at the time), Mayar Sherif, Clara Burel, Elina Avanesyan (No. 138), Maria Timofeeva, Carole Monnet (No. 203), Maya Joint (No. 135), Kaja Juvan (No. 353) and Raluca Serban of Cyprus.
Maja Chwalińska mając 13 lat, podczas tenisowego turnieju młodych talentów w Paryżu, była pytana o Wielkiego Szlema, którego chciałaby wygrać.
Odpowiedziała, że Rolanda Garrosa. pic.twitter.com/yRmtPlUHj2
— Bartłomiej Kawalec (@B_Kawalec) June 4, 2026
She’ll already be at No. 21 in the world just by making the final. If she pulls off this improbable victory, she will be No. 14 and virtually guaranteed to make the year-end WTA finals.
Chwalinska had earned $114,498 US in 2026. When this tournament is done, she’ll have made more than $1.6 million US. Double that if she wins.
Either way, her career has well and truly begun at the top level.
A long, long road
Open Court has had her on the radar for nearly a decade, ever since she and her doubles partner – you might have heard of her; she’s done well in Paris a time or two – went to the 2017 Australian Open girls’ doubles final.
It was random, really; they happened to be playing Canadians Bianca Andreescu and Carson Branstine, who won it. And she was noticeable by the fact that she was so tiny compared to the other three; roughly the same age as Iga Swiatek, the former No. 1 who looked like she was playing with her pesky little sister.
But the game was the same. We’re not a fan of the two-handed backhand slice on principle; it just seems like a highly unserious shot. But this one seemed to have mastered it.
It was similar to when we first spotted a then-unknown Karolina Muchova, serve-volleying like a boss on the grass at Roehampton in the Wimbldeon singles qualifying. ANYTHING that’s different, is going to catch the eye.
And so whenever Chwalinska would be in the qualifying at a major, we’d make a point of going out to watch.
Here are some of the pics we’ve taken of her over the years – on various surfaces, with varying hair colours, wearing various brands – whatever she could get for free, get donated or buy in the shop – and against various opponents.
Chwalinska’s game can also work well on the grass – there, the two-handed slice she didn’t use much against Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals on Thursday is particularly effective. he ball stays low on grass anyway and that only makes it skid even more.
In 2022, she qualified at Wimbledon by winning three three-setters. She beat the solid Katerina Siniakova in the first round, and then went three sets with Alison Riske, who was always know as a quality grass-court player.
And if she was remembered for anything, it was this little moment.
Before this tournament, this was the only memory I had of Maja Chwalinska 👀 pic.twitter.com/tV7eoJSmH6
— Jonah (@jonahtennis) June 4, 2026
Finally, last year in Australia – after nearly being out in the first round and winning a match tiebreak 12-10, and needing three sets to get through her second round – Chwalinska made her second career Grand Slam main draw, more than 2 1/2 years years after the first one.
She beat the (now disappeared) teenager Brenda Fruhvirtova in straight sets to get through.
Unfortunatey, she had nothing left for Jule Niemeier in the first round of the main draw.
A year and a half later, it turns out she had plenty left after the qualifying. She’s won six matches on the trot since then and only in the third round against Maria Sakkari did she even lose a set.
There’s something about Maja
What is it about Chwalinska’s game that has bamboozled opponents intermittendly through the years, but has turned her into a giant killer during these three weeks in Paris?
It’s the variety, stupid.
Chwalinska rarely hits the same ball twice in a row. She rarely plays two similar points in a row. Either she changes the speed, or the depth, or the height, or the spin.
She puts her opponents into uncomfortable positions with every swat of the racquet. And in a tennis era in which the women feed on pace and rhythm – that’s about all they practice, mostly against male hitting partners – she can fry the circuits in a hurry.
The clay, slower and more gracious to changes in spin, accentuates that and gives her more time to ply her trade.
Zheng got Chwalinskaed
It felt like a little magic was being created from the very first round when she faced the unseeded Zheng Qinwen – who was a top-10 player before her injury and won the Olympic gold medal on the Roland Garros courts.
But Zheng, a somewhat one-dimensional power hitter, was completely bamboozled. The 6-4, 6-0 score might seem harsh, but it accurately reflects what went on that day.
Here’s a glimpse of what Chwalinska did to Zheng with a steady diet of moonballs.
It was a master class. But it also was made possible because Zheng never, ever made a single adjustment to try to counter them. She just allowed herself to get backed into the wall, time and time and time again – until her tennis brain finally exploded and she suffered a bagel in the second set.
As long as it kept working, the infinitely patient Chwalinska just kept doing it, as part of multi-stroke point patterns that meant Zheng never really knew what was coming next.
Zheng is hardly alone in the modern women’s game in not really knowing what to do with something different. Too many of the women will only slice when someone slices them. And most don’t have quality slices; for many, it’s like a last resort because they’re afraid to overhit the slower ball.
And it seems few – even with their coaches right there to direct them – know how to neutralize the moonball. There are a few ways to do it: one is to move into the court and cut them off in the air with a swing volley.
The other is to stand their ground at the baseline or inside it and take those moonballs on the rise. But so many don’t like moving that far into the court; once there, they’re unsure what the next move is and tend to scuttlle back to the baseline.
Both solutions are difficult. But if successful they both rob the opponent of time and make her wary of using those shots.
Shnaider’s effort laudable, but not enough
In Thursday’s semifinal, Shnaider did a pretty good job of standing her ground on the moonballs. And against a fellow lefty, Chwalinska didn’t use that two-handed slice much. But she did create some patterns of play that forced Shnaider into uncomfortable situations.
And, despite urgings from her coach Sascha Bajin to target the forehand, Shnaider went to the more versatile backhand way too much. To do otherwise would have been to have to change direction with her backhand on awkward balls. And she couldn’t do it.
A few examples of the way Chwalinska won her points:
*down-the-line backhand winner – right after Bajin telling Shnaider that Chwalinska had only done it once the entire match
*a long rally, changing speeds and not missing, finally slicing and forcing a Shnaider error
*defending a wide ball to her backhand side with her … right hand on the racquet, à la Sharapova – and ultimately winning the point. Twice.
*cross-court backhand (times five) and then a forehand winner down the line once the court was opened up
*drop shot, lob, inside-out forehand, backhand slice down the line – and then a forehand winner down the line
*backhand drop shot, good guess on the direction Shnaider would chose – half-volley crosscourt lob for the winner
*Moonballs on defence, sneak attack and a forehand drop volley down the line
*two moonballs – and then a drop shot for the win
*lob over Shnaider’s backhand that she smashes, but Chwalinska catches up to and hooks a forehand crosscourt pass for the winner
And that’s just a small sample.
Shnaider scrapped and battled for nearly an hour and 20 minutes – only to lose the first set. After that, she came back to the court without any of the signs of frustration she had displayed in the first set. But it was almost as though she was resigned to her fate.
Good analysis from Shnaider
The Russian was super gracious in defeat, tennis-aware enough to know how and why she was beaten, and not making it about herself at all.
“First of all, she moves incredible on the court. She covers a lot. She reads the game very well. Even if you think that you won the point, she’s there. She’s returning that ball, but not just, like, returning where you can attack, but she’s returning it very uncomfortable for you, so you need to start, like, the whole point literally from the beginning, building it up again.”
I love how Diana refused to call Maja’s game “annoying”
“Not annoying, just difficult. I wasn’t annoyed by it in any way…I was more like, “damn does she read the game well.” She really reads the game and moves so well.”
Tennis Actu pic.twitter.com/gP6U5bAkPk
— til polarity’s end ⚡#SpallettiEra⚡ (@lildarkcage) June 5, 2026
“A lot of variety, a lot of spin. You know, with a lefty forehand, there is spin. And with the backhand, there is a lot of slices. There is a low ball coming, and then obviously the drop shots worked very well. She’s coming into the net, covers it very well.”
“She’s a very tough opponent, especially on clay, where you need to grind, you need to rally. That’s what she’s doing, like, so good. I feel like sometimes people underestimate just with the ranking … I saw first round beating Qinwen and all of the good matches, beating Mertens and Sakkari. So it’s, like, ‘Yeah, this girl is definitely feeling well here.’ Again, I feel like one tournament can definitely, you know, change your life, change your career completely. So I feel like she just feeling super well here, uber-confident. She’s playing some great tennis, and I feel like she’s now on fire and in such a momentum. Yeah, definitely a very tough opponent to have, and it doesn’t matter about her ranking.”
Can Chwalinska repeat against Andreeva?
This is a tougher ask. Andreeva hits the ball hard enough to limit Chwalinska’s opportunities to ply her craft.
She serves well enough to slow down Chwalinska’s ability to control the point.
She’s quick enough that she can get to a lot of balls.
She’s versatile enough at this point that she can mix in a few wrinkles of her own.
And she’s confident.
That said, she’s only 19. This is her first major final. And she comes in as the prohibitive favorite. That’s new territory, and a big challenge for her improving on-court composure.
You just hope it’s compelling, and competitive.
