Who is Maja Chwalinska? Get to know the World No. 114 in Roland Garros' final 16

PARIS -- For Roland Garros qualifier Maja Chwalinska, she had no expectations of reaching the fourth round in Paris.

Her goal was simply to just reach the main draw -- which she achieved -- and Chwalinska has looked dominant, winning all but one of her six matches in straight sets and scored upsets of Zheng Qinwen, No. 23 seed Elise Mertens and Maria Sakkari to reach the second week at a Grand Slam for the first time. 

"It's very new for me, the stage," Chwalinska said to wtatennis.com after her 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Sakkari on Saturday. "I've never really been in the third run over Grand Slam, and I'm in the fourth round right now. Coming from quallies, I obviously didn't well expect to be in this position, so it's a lot to take in. I'm just,very proud of myself with the effort I put in."

She's part of history too, joining compatriot and World No. 3 Iga Swiatek as the first two players from Poland to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros the same year. It's just the third time at any Grand Slam -- Marta Domachowska and Agnieszka Radwanska (2008 Australian Open); Magda Linette and Swiatek (2023 Australian Open). Should Chwalinska and Swiatek win in their fourth-round matches, it'd be the first time any two Polish players reached the quarterfinal at any Slam in a given year.

Ahead of her Round of 16 match, wtatennis.com caught up with Chwalinska in Paris. Get to know the 24-year-old, left-handed World No. 114 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz:

Since 2025, she's won just six tour-level, main-draw matches

Dating back to the start of the 2025 season to present day, Chwalinska has won just six tour-level, main-draw matches -- including her three wins at 2026 Roland Garros -- as she primarily competes on the ITF circuit and WTA 125 events because of her ranking. For reaching the fourth round, she'll earn 240 ranking points and is guaranteed at least €285,000 in prize money.

In addition to her three upsets in Paris, Chwalinska won her opening match in Iasi last season and two matches in Cluj-Napoca in February, both in Romania. In WTA 125s, she's performed well, winning titles in Montreux, Switzerland in September and most recently in Oeiras, Portugal in April. 

"I know that I'm playing different tennis, than most of the girls on tour," Chwalinska said. "I don't have the [physical] conditions toplay strong, so I need to develop a different kind of weapons for myself. I definitely played differently, and I think it helps me a lot against these players."

Chwalinska hasn't played a full year on the WTA Tour quite yet, but of the many places she's visited, there's a couple that standout as favorites. The first is Portugal, where she said she has a great time every time she visits, regardless of her recent success there. As for her top choice?

"I love Rome. I think it's my favorite city in the world."

'I think I'm dorky'

Beyond tennis, Chwalinska has the traditional hobbies of spending time with friends, going shopping and indulging in a coffee, adding that sport is her main passion. 

Though when asked what fans might not know about her, Chwalinska described the version of herself you might find off the court.

"I think I'm dorky, but I feel they know it already," Chwalinska laughed. "I like to have fun. I love people as well, so I think I'm friendly as well.

"Although I know that I have a [expletive] face sometimes [laughing]."

Chwalinska draws inspiration from the Big Three

When asked about her motivation for tennis, Chwalinska quickly noted how she's always loved the sport and was something she constantly watched growing up. She still watches plenty, but not as much as she did in her childhood. The player she enjoyed watching the most? 

"Oh, [Roger] Federer for sure," Chwalinska said. "At the beginning it was only Federer. I was like a No. 1 fan.

"Then when I grew up, Rafa [Nadal] was a huge inspiration for me, and now Novak [Djokovic] also. Yeah, the Big Three. I'm very grateful that I grew up in this kind of era."

She overcame a battle with depression

Five years ago, when Chwalinska was 19 years old and following a first-round qualifying defeat at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, she took a then-indefinite break from the sport, revealing that she had been battling depression since 2019. 

Then, she wasn't sure if she'd pick up a racquet again as she associated the sport with "pressure, stress and crying," she said back in 2022. After returning to live at her family home, being surrounded by her close friends and seeing a specialist, Chwalinska began to heal. A key part of that healing was simply announcing her battle with depression, and she began to understood the immense support she had around in her close circle.

Ultimately, after trying running and boxing as forms of exercise to help her mental health, Chwalinska found her way back to the courts, this time equipped with strong mental health techniques to keep her going. She was off the WTA Tour and ITF circuit for about four months.

One year later after the 2021 Wimbledon defeat, she advanced through qualifiers at the 2022 edition to reach her first Grand Slam main draw and won her first round match against Katerina Siniakova before falling in the second round.

"The results don't define me as much as they did before," Chwalinska said. "I just couldn't differentiate like Maja and tennis player. I was just one. I just needed time to kind of figure it out, and also do something else, -- not just tennis.

"I only played tennis and I felt that it's only tennis out there. But I just know that there are many more things outside tennis that you can do and you can enjoy. I think that I needed time to figure things out for myself."