Eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi stepped forward with a heartfelt message for Maja Chwalinska following her Roland Garros final defeat, reminding the Polish qualifier exactly what her historic run meant to the sport. Despite falling in the final hurdle against Mirra Andreeva, the 24-year-old had plenty of reasons to smile after completing the tournament of her life.
Speaking to the Polish player during her appearance at the TNT Sports studio, where Agassi was working as an analyst, the former world number one took the opportunity to uplift her spirits. When Chwalinska emotionally admitted that she did not know what she had done to deserve such an overwhelming wave of support, the American legend offered some powerful words of comfort to help her process her achievements.
“Well, if you don’t know why you deserve it, let me help you understand that. You qualified and got to the finals, one of the toughest challenges in all of our sport.”
“Don’t be distracted by those articles. Don’t be distracted by wins and losses. Keep making yourself better because you’re a gift to this sport.”
Agassi’s praise carries incredible weight, considering Chwalinska entered Paris ranked No. 114 and completely rewrote the record books by winning nine matches in a row across three weeks. By reaching the championship match, she became the first qualifier in history to reach the women’s singles final at Roland Garros, and only the second female qualifier in the entire Open Era to do so at a Grand Slam, joining Emma Raducanu.
HOW DID CHWALINSKA’S FRENCH OPEN 2026 GO?
Chwalinska’s historic journey in Paris was nothing short of a fairytale, requiring her to win three consecutive qualifying matches just to get her name into the main draw. From there, she turned into a giant-killer, securing spectacular straight-set upsets over elite players like Qinwen Zheng and Elise Mertens, before fighting through a three-set thriller against world number nine Maria Sakkari. She then defeated Diane Parry, Anna Kalinskaya, and Diana Shnaider to book her dream spot in the finale.
The championship match on Court Philippe-Chatrier proved to be a step too far against eighth-seeded Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva. Chwalinska fought hard early on and even held a 3-2 lead in the first set, but Andreeva handled the windy conditions beautifully, reeling off nine consecutive games to close out a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Despite the final heartbreak, Chwalinska’s career has changed forever; her world ranking is projected to skyrocket 93 places to a career-high No. 21, guaranteeing her direct entry into the world’s biggest tournaments without ever needing to play a qualifier again.
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