"I don’t know what’s going on": Maja Chwalinska becomes first qualifier to reach Roland Garros final

From qualifying to one win away from becoming a major champion, Maja Chwalinska is without question the fairytale story of the 2026 season.

On Thursday evening, the 24-year-old continued her historic run to become just the second women’s qualifier—and first at Roland Garros—in Open Era history to reach a Grand Slam final. In a high-quality contest, Chwalinska topped fellow left-hander Diana Shnaider for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory.

“I mean, like a dream honestly. I don’t know what’s going on,” she said on court afterwards in Paris.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m just very happy.”

In a key game, Chwalinska saved two break points to hold for 6-5 in the opening set after seeing her break advantage erased by the No. 25 seed. The Pole then recovered in the tiebreak by claiming the final five points.

The two traded breaks to begin the second set, before Chwalinska won her third return game to put the encounter on her racquet. After two hours and seven matches, the victory belonged to the world No. 114. She capped her day with 32 winners against 17 unforced errors, while Shnaider ended with a 33 to 36 ratio.

Chwalinska is contesting just her third main draw at a major, with her previous two appearances coming at 2022 Wimbledon and the 2025 Australian Open. Should she defeat Mirra Andreeva in Saturday’s championship, the Miechow native would join Emma Raducanu in the history books as qualifiers to capture major trophies.

A Top 25 debut is guaranteed Monday, with a title projected to vault Chwalinska 100 places to No. 14.