Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska produced one of the biggest upsets of the French Open 2026 on Monday, 25 May, defeating fifth seed and Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng of China 6-4, 6-0 on Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris. The match lasted just one hour and 30 minutes, with Chwalinska winning the final eight games without reply after a competitive opening set.

Chwalinska's Statement Win

The left-handed Pole came through qualifying without dropping a set and carried that momentum straight into the main draw. After both players exchanged breaks to reach 4-4 in the first set, Chwalinska seized control and never looked back, closing out the set 6-4 before a dominant 6-0 second set left Zheng with no answers.

The victory marked only Chwalinska's second main-draw win at Grand Slam level and her first over a top-seeded opponent on such a stage. Her strong clay-court form had already been evident last month, when she claimed a WTA 125 title in Oeiras.

Zheng's Shock First-Round Exit

For Zheng, the loss was a historic low at Roland Garros — she had never before fallen in the opening round at the French Open. On her debut in 2022, she reached the fourth round; last year, she advanced to the quarterfinals. Monday's defeat was only her fourth first-round loss in 16 Grand Slam appearances, underlining just how unexpected the result was.

This comes amid a broader trend of top seeds struggling on the opening day, a reminder that clay-court form can shift quickly and that qualifiers arriving on a hot streak pose a genuine threat regardless of ranking.

Paolini Advances in Composed Fashion

Jasmine Paolini, the 13th seed and 2024 French Open finalist, overcame Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 40 minutes to move into the second round. The Italian led early in both sets but was forced to dig deep in the first, where she dropped four consecutive games before reeling off a seven-game run to retake control.

Paolini then closed out the second set with authority, extending her remarkable Grand Slam consistency. The win was her ninth consecutive first-round victory at a major, placing her alongside Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina as the only three women to reach the second round at each of the last nine Grand Slam events.

Head-to-Head and What's Next

Paolini now leads her career head-to-head against Yastremska 7-1, with five of those wins in straight sets. She next faces Argentina's Solana Sierra for a place in the third round.

For Yastremska, it was a fifth opening-round defeat at the French Open in her career, highlighting her continued struggle for consistency in Paris despite flashes of strong form elsewhere on the circuit.

With a major upset and a steady title contender already through, the women's draw at Roland Garros 2026 is shaping up to be an unpredictable fortnight.