Zheng Qinwen, the 2024 Paris Olympic women's singles gold medalist, suffered a stunning first-round loss at the 2026 French Open on May 25, falling 4-6, 0-6 to Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska [1, 2, 3]. This marks Zheng’s first opening-round defeat at Roland Garros after reaching the quarter-finals in 2025, her career-best Grand Slam performance before now [1, 4, 5, 6].
The defeat caused Zheng’s world ranking to drop out of the top 100 for the first time in years, falling to around No. 117 [2, 5, 6]. Zheng struggled throughout the match, committing about 32 unforced errors and failing to handle Chwalinska’s high-quality topspin shots. Zheng said after the match, “她今天的上旋球質量比我想像中還要高” (“Her topspin quality was higher than I expected today”) [6].
Zheng also faced physical challenges. She underwent right elbow surgery last summer and had a foot blister treated during the match, hindering her movement [1, 4, 7]. The ongoing elbow injury and foot problem clearly affected her play, contributing to tactical difficulties against the relatively lower-ranked Chwalinska [6, 8, 9].
Maja Chwalinska, ranked between No. 114 and 116, advanced to face top players Elise Mertens or Tatjana Maria in round two. Chwalinska said, “老實說，我一開始不確定該期待什麼...我想專注在自己身上，盡力打出自己的網球” (“Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect... I wanted to focus on myself and do my best”) [10].
After the match, Zheng was emotional and cried, calling the loss “a very heavy defeat” in Chinese. She said, “這是一場非常沈重的失利，但或許這場失利，可以給我帶來不一樣的視角，可以讓我下次回歸時變得更強” (“This is a very heavy loss, but perhaps it will give me a different perspective to come back stronger next time”) [3].
Zheng plans to return to competition at lower-level events while deciding her schedule with her coaching team. She has yet to set dates for her upcoming tournaments [2, 9, 3].
