Iga Swiatek sends supportive message to Maja Chwalinska ahead of the Roland Garros final
Maja Chwalinska has been one of the stories of Roland Garros so far as she has reached the final of the Grand Slam after coming through qualifying.
The Polish star started the tournament ranked outside the top 100 of the WTA Tour, but a string of stunning results have seen her soar up the rankings.
Chwalinska has toppled Qinwen Zheng, Elise Mertens, Maria Sakkari, Diane Parry, Anna Kalinskaya, and Diana Shnaider to reach the final of Roland Garros.
As a result, she currently sits at World No. 21 in the WTA Tour rankings and she will crack the top 20 for the first time in her career if she lifts the Roland Garros title.
Chwalinska has been a long-time friend of Iga Swiatek since their junior days and the World No. 3 has sent a supportive message to her compatriot.
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In a post on her Instagram Stories, Swiatek simply wrote: “JAZDA” with a muscle and fire emoji over a graphic of the Roland Garros final.
Jazda is used in Polish colloquially as ‘let’s go’ in a similar way to the French use Allez and the Spanish use ‘Vamos’.
Swiatek knows a thing or two about lifting the Roland Garros trophy, having done so on four occasions in the last six seasons, so she could offer some sage advice to Chwalinska ahead of the final.
Chwalinska is just the second Polish star after Swiatek to reach the Roland Garros final and she has done so in her maiden appearance in the main draw.
Despite her ridiculous climb up the rankings, Chwalinska will still need to play through qualifying if she wants to enter the Wimbledon main draw.
The cut-off for the event is prior to Roland Garros, so she was not ranked high enough to earn instant access into the third Grand Slam of the season.
Chwalinska will be hoping to earn a wildcard for the event, but it could be an incredibly competitive field this year.
Wimbledon tend to save their wildcards for British stars, but there are some very big names who are reportedly on the hunt for wildcards this year.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams could stop Chwalinska’s Wimbledon hopes as they are not ranked at all, so won’t be able to even play qualifying. The only way they will be allowed into Wimbledon is through the wildcard system.
Chwalinska finds herself in a similar position to Lois Boisson last year. The Frenchwoman reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros, but that was not enough to convince the Wimbledon organisers to give her a wildcard.
Unless she lifts the trophy at Roland Garros, it is very unlikely she will receive a wildcard from Wimbledon.
