From fairytale to nightmare: French Open runner-up knocked out in Wimbledon first round

Maja Chwalinska’s French Open fairytale turned into a Wimbledon nightmare after the Roland Garros runner-up was knocked out in the first round by Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew.

Last month, Chwalinska made history by becoming the first play to advance to the French Open final as a qualifier, losing to Mirra Andreeva while ranked as the world No 114 in Paris.

Due to Chwalinska’s historic run coming after the direct cut-off for Wimbledon, the Polish player was in the extremely rare position of requiring a wildcard but entering the singles draw as the 20th seed.

However, the 24-year-old crashed down to earth as she lost 2-6 7-5 6-2 to the Thai qualifier Sawangkaew, who is ranked 164th in the world. Chwalinska took a medical timeout after slipping and hurting her ankle on match point.

Just a month ago, Chwalinska became just the second player to make a grand slam final as a qualifier, after Emma Raducanu at the US Open in 2021. Her movement was limited after slipping on the grass and turning her foot.

Sawangkaew as making her Wimbledon debut and just appearance at a grand slam, following a first-round defeat to Raducanu at this year’s Australian Open.