Maja Chwalinska captivated the tennis world with her stunning run at Roland Garros, and Polish legend Agnieszka Radwanska has spoken to Tennis365 about her compatriot.
Chwalinska dropped just one set across nine matches — three in qualifying and six in the main draw — to reach the final at the 2026 French Open, which she lost to Mirra Andreeva.
The Pole became just the second player in tennis history to reach a Grand Slam final as a qualifier after Emma Raducanu.
Having started Roland Garros ranked 114th — one place below her career-high ranking at the time — Chwalinska soared to world No 21 following her run.
Chwalinska, who is currently ranked 23rd, has played just two matches since the final of the Paris major on 6 June.
The 24-year-old lost 6-2, 5-7, 2-6 to Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the first round at Wimbledon after suffering an ankle injury in the second set.
She then fell 5-7, 1-6 to Talia Gibson in her opening match at the Canadian Open, which was her WTA 1000 debut.
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In an exclusive interview, Tennis365 asked Radwanska if she thinks Chwalinska can establish herself as a top 30 player.
“Well, it’s a good question, but also, nobody knows,” said the former world No 2.
“Because for the first time she’s top 30, for the first time she’s going to play the big tournaments, for the first time she’s going to face all the pressure that we all have, for the first time she’s going to play tournaments where she’s going to face top 70 and top 50 players.
“It’s a different story, so it’s not going to be easy, for sure. But I think she’s the girl that was wanting all her life to be here.
“She’s also a very hard worker, so I hope she’s going to do that. It’s definitely going to be a challenging couple of months, for sure. And that pressure is going to be bigger.”
Radwanska also addressed whether Chwalinska’s unique game style could continue to be an advantage for her, as it was at Roland Garros.
“Well, on the clay, for sure. And we could see that because that’s always very tricky, because you can mix it up and slow down the game and everything; the balls are heavy,” said the 2012 Wimbledon finalist, who won 20 WTA Tour titles.
“On the hard-court, it’s going to be hard. I don’t see [Chwalinska playing] much of that exact same tennis that she was playing in Paris.
“I think she needs to step it up a little bit more on hard courts. But we all want to see that this year. But probably, the clay is her surface.”
Chwalinska will face Cristina Bucsa in her opening match at the Cincinnati Open.
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