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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 winning the first set after slipping and hurting her ankle.
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.
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.