French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska may be forced to go through qualifying – as she did at Roland-Garros – to make the Wimbledon main draw despite her stunning result in Paris.
The world No 114 when she won nine matches in a row to get through three rounds of qualifying and make the French Open final, where she lost to eighth seed Mirra Andreeva, Chwalinska has now soared 93 places up in the WTA Tour standings to 21st.
But despite that being technically enough to qualify her for a seeding, with the top 32 players in the world becoming seeds, she will in fact either need a wildcard or to go through qualifying again in order to make the main draw at Wimbledon.
That is due to Wimbledon having an entry cut-off six weeks before the tournament actually begins, meaning that any changes in the rankings in the six-week period leading up to the tournament – which encompasses the entire French Open – are not reflected in the seedings or the draws at SW19.
So Chwalinska will need a main-draw wildcard in order to automatically qualify for the tournament, but is far from guaranteed one.
The All England Club, which announces its singles and doubles wildcards for the 2026 tournament in the week beginning June 15, typically chooses to give them to lower-ranked British players.
Chwalinska herself was doubtful she would receive one, telling press in Paris: “That would be the news of a century. Honestly, I don’t expect it, but I’ll see.”
The Wimbledon website states: “Wild cards are usually offered on the basis of past performance at Wimbledon or to increase British interest”.
Queen’s, the major warm-up tournament to Wimbledon, came under fire earlier this month for not granting a wildcard to defending champion Tatjana Maria but instead offering four to British players ranked lower than the German.
Maria had to go through three rounds of qualifying – winning two matches in one day – in order to reach the main draw and have a chance to defend her title.
Will Serena Williams play at Wimbledon?
One of the major questions around this year’s tournament concerns whether 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams will return to SW19.
The American great announced she would be “evolving away” from tennis in 2022, playing her last competitive match at the US Open that year, before announcing her return to the sport this month.
She has only played doubles so far, partnering 19-year-old Victoria Mboko at Queen’s and sharing the news that she will also play in Berlin, another warm-up tournament.
Her partnership with world No 9 Mboko came to a premature end after just one match as the teenager suffered a nasty knee injury in her singles opener at Queen’s and was forced to withdraw both from that encounter and the doubles, where she and Williams had reached the quarter-finals.
There has been no word yet on whether Williams will continue her grass-court adventure at Wimbledon, although it seems highly unlikely that she would pass on the opportunity, or whether she will receive a doubles wildcard or embark on a return to singles too.
Speaking at the annual pre-tournament press conference, the All England Club’s chief executive, Sally Bolton, said: “We can all see how much excitement Serena being back on a tennis court, and particularly back on a grass court, has created. And so one can only imagine what that would be like if it was the Championship.
“The wildcard committee will make their decisions formally next week and we’ll be communicating those early next week.
“She has certainly created a fantastic buzz, and that is exciting for the sport.”
All England Club chairwoman Debbie Jevans added: “I’m sure it [the wildcard committee] won’t ignore her success at Wimbledon when making that decision.
The official Wimbledon Instagram account also appeared to spoil the news in advance, commenting on one of the American great’s posts: “See you at SW19 for The Championships, Serena,” a week before the wildcards were announced.
Serena won the women’s doubles tournament at Wimbledon twice as a wildcard, alongside sister Venus, who is still competing.
