Takeaways: Chwalinska upsets Zheng as Paolini advances at Roland Garros

China’s Qinwen Zheng suffered a surprising first-round defeat at Roland Garros at the hands of Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska, while 13th-seeded Jasmine Paolini scored a morale-boosting straight-sets win over Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in Paris on Monday.

Chwalinska and Zheng stayed close through the first eight games of the match, with each player breaking serve once to level at 4-4. From there, the left-handed Pole swept the final eight games to complete a stunning 6-4, 6-0 victory in one hour, 30 minutes.

Paolini had a tougher challenge against Yastremska, a former Australian Open semifinalist. The Italian led 3-1 in the opening set before Yastremska won four straight games to move ahead 5-3. Paolini responded by winning the next seven games to take the first set 7-5 and build a 3-0 lead in the second. She then held serve the rest of the way to complete a 7-5, 6-3 victory in one hour, 40 minutes.

Here are some key takeaways from the two matches:

First opening-round loss in Paris for Zheng

Prior to Monday, Zheng was undefeated in the first round at Roland Garros. She had gone 4-0 in opening-round matches in Paris, including a fourth-round finish on her debut in 2022 and a quarterfinal appearance last year. It also marked her fourth opening-round loss in 16 Grand Slam main-draw appearances - the other three all came at Wimbledon.

Second Grand Slam main-draw win for Chwalinska

The Pole made her Grand Slam debut in qualifying at the 2020 Australian Open. Since then, this was only her third Grand Slam main-draw appearance, following Wimbledon in 2022 and the Australian Open earlier this year. On all three occasions, she came through qualifying to earn her spot in the main draw. Monday’s victory was just her second career Grand Slam main-draw win. Her first came at Wimbledon in 2022, where she reached the second round.

Third 6-0 set win this tournament for Chwalinska

Through four wins in Paris - three in qualifying and one in the main draw - Chwalinska has yet to drop a set. Three of the eight sets she has won have ended in 6-0 scorelines. The Pole entered Roland Garros in strong form after winning a WTA 125 title in Oeiras last month.

Paolini improves to 7-1 against Yastremska

Monday’s win was Paolini’s seventh in eight career meetings against Yastremska. It was also their third consecutive meeting on clay, with the Italian winning all three. Five of Paolini’s seven victories over Yastremska, including this one, have come in straight sets. Yastremska is now the player Paolini has beaten the most times on tour.

Ninth consecutive opening-round win at a major for Paolini

Paolini, whose best Grand Slam result was a runner-up finish at Roland Garros in 2024, has now won her last nine Grand Slam opening-round matches. Earlier in her career, she struggled to start strongly at majors, winning her opening match only four times across her first 12 Grand Slam appearances. She is now one of only three players to have reached the second round at each of the last nine women’s Grand Slam events, alongside Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina and will next face Argentina’s Solana Sierra for a spot in the third round.

Fifth opening-round loss in Paris for Yastremska

Yastremska has now lost in the opening round at Roland Garros five times in her career. She failed to win a match in her first four main-draw appearances in Paris before reaching the third round in 2024 and 2025. With Monday’s defeat, she has also won only one of her last six matches in Paris against seeded opponents.