Maja Chwalińska is a Polish professional tennis player who reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 21 in June 2026, highlighted by her historic run to the final of the 2026 French Open—becoming the first qualifier ever to achieve that feat at the event. Born in 2001 in Miechów and raised in the industrial city of Dąbrowa Górnicza, she began playing tennis at age 7 and formed a close friendship with fellow Polish star Iga Świątek, with whom she won junior doubles titles and helped Poland capture the Junior Fed Cup in 2016. After her French Open final, she received a massive tribute when 90,000 concertgoers at the Silesian Stadium, led by Polish pop star Dawid Podsiadło, sang "Sto lat" in her honor—and she later joked she could offer him the runner-up silver plate since she didn't win the trophy. Her senior career progressed with a Fed Cup debut in 2019 and her first ITF singles titles that year, followed by her Grand Slam qualifying debut at the 2020 Australian Open. However, her path was not without obstacles; she contracted COVID-19 during a tournament trip to Argentina and, at age 19 in 2021, announced she was putting her career on hold to battle severe depression.