Chwalinska and – Two quarterfinals will decide the first Roland Garros semifinal spots on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday, as qualifier Maja Chwalinska tries to keep shocking the draw against Anna Kalinskaya and World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka takes on first-time Slam quarter
PARIS — The quarterfinals arrive with that familiar Roland Garros rhythm: the clay asks questions. the crowd answers with noise. and suddenly the “what if” becomes a real timetable. On Wednesday. Court Philippe-Chatrier hosts two matches that each carry a different kind of pressure—one built by a qualifier’s momentum. the other anchored by World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka’s precision.
With a semifinal berth on the line, Anna Kalinskaya faces qualifier World No. 114 Maja Chwalinska in the first quarterfinal, followed by Aryna Sabalenka against No. 25 seeded Diana Shnaider. The order of play for June 3 puts Kalinskaya vs. Chwalinska on Philippe Chatrier at 11 a.m. local time, and Sabalenka vs. Shnaider after that. Men’s singles then follows not before 8:15 p.m. local time.
Kalinskaya vs. Chwalinska has the shape of a story the tennis world has already started to recognize. The head-to-head is their first meeting, and Chwalinska is the last Polish player standing in the draw. Her run has carried her past Zheng Qinwen. Elise Mertens and Maria Sakkari. and it included an upset over Frenchwoman Diane Parry in the Round of 16 on Philippe Chatrier.
It’s not just that she’s winning. It’s how she frames the expectation around it. Chwalinska told press Monday that her goal for the season was to crack the top 100, and she’s projected to surpass that come next Monday.
In this quarterfinal. she’s also the underdog in the way rankings are measured—something she’s leaning into rather than resisting. She knows the spotlight will stay on her opponents because they’re higher in the rankings. and she said her approach is simple: whoever is across the net. she plays the version of herself she can control.
“Chwalinska told press Monday that her goal for the season was to crack the top 100. ” and she added. “For me. whoever I’m playing. I’m lower in the rankings. so it doesn’t matter for me if it’s open or not. You’re saying it’s open, but for me, everyone here is higher in the ranking than me. So they are the favorites to win. I’m like an underdog. No one really knows me [smiling].”.
Through her four matches, she has won three in straight sets, including blanking Zheng and Mertens in a set each. It is a run built on staying aggressive, even when the bigger names—and bigger moments—should make the match feel heavier.
Kalinskaya’s path to the quarterfinals has a different texture: it’s quieter, but it still comes with stakes. She has reached the final eight at a Grand Slam for just the second time in her career. the other being her run at the 2024 Australian Open. If she had been told before this tournament that she would be in the quarterfinals. Kalinskaya said she wouldn’t have believed it.
She comes into this matchup after a very physical, rollercoaster match against Anastasia Potapova. Potapova had two chances to serve out the match and eliminate Kalinskaya. Kalinskaya still prevailed despite being down 3-0 in the super tiebreak. She described it as the craziest match she has played at a Slam. That night, though, didn’t top the nine match points she saved in Rome last month.
This season, Kalinskaya has already reached two quarterfinals prior in Doha and Charleston, but she hasn’t yet advanced to the semifinals—a round she last reached in Washington D.C. last season. When she spoke to press Monday, she didn’t hide the disbelief that comes with being here.
“Thinking two weeks ago that I will be here, I wouldn’t believe,” Kalinskaya said. “I would probably laugh with my team. Here I am, so I will try to enjoy and just do my best, and let’s see what’s going to happen.”
What matters for Kalinskaya now is that Chwalinska’s game doesn’t read like a one-off. Chwalinska has been upsetting players at every turn, and she has treated each higher-ranked opponent as just another match—while Kalinskaya has already been forced into a survival test against Potapova.
One match earlier, the pressure looks different but it’s still real. Aryna Sabalenka is the lone Wednesday quarterfinalist who has reached a Grand Slam semifinal, and she arrives as World No. 1 and the lone last top five seed remaining. The upset wave elsewhere in the draw doesn’t change her focus—she’s built her week around herself. and she’s made Paris feel like her terrain.
Sabalenka vs. Shnaider is also a first meeting in their head-to-head.
In the Round of 16, Sabalenka beat Naomi Osaka for the third straight time this season. That straight-sets win came with 12 aces and 39 winners. It’s part of a bigger pattern in Paris: Sabalenka is a four-time Grand Slam champion. and she has yet to win one on a surface other than hard court. Still, she is the 2025 finalist at Roland Garros, and she’s in prime position to finally close that gap.
If she gets to the semifinals, she will also join a rare club: she would become the first player since Serena Williams to advance to 14 straight Grand Slam quarterfinals.
The opponent is left-handed Diana Shnaider, who is into her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal. Like Chwalinska. Shnaider is a surprise in the final eight. but she’s come through with an aggressive style—top spin shaping much of her play. along with higher. deep balls that worked effectively against Madison Keys in the Round of 16.
For Shnaider, the quarterfinal is already a breakthrough, but she’s pushing for what would be the biggest win of her career. She has credited the evolution of her mental game, especially after losing a second set versus Keys.
She said, “Just trusting more of myself, my game [and] not being too negative on myself. I feel like before if I would lose a second set. I would be doubting myself a lot in the third. Definitely thinking. like. more staying in the moment and thinking about solution. what I have to do. and not going too much into thoughts of doubting myself and being too negative like I have done something wrong when my opponent is playing better.”.
Sabalenka, for her part, points to the same kind of focus, just from a different experience level. She told press Monday that when she won her first Grand Slam, her mindset was about bringing fight and turning it into opportunities.
“At this stages every time I’m just trying to focus on myself and making sure when I’m there competing, I’m fighting and doing everything I can with what I have at the moment,” Sabalenka said. “because sometimes you have great days, sometimes you feel like nothing is working and you have to fight.”
The common thread across both quarterfinals is that the tennis is not waiting for anyone to “arrive.” Chwalinska is arriving by momentum and fearless underdog play. while Sabalenka is arriving with results—14 straight Slam quarterfinals. a straight-sets win over Naomi Osaka. and the full weight of being World No. 1.
By Wednesday evening, the draw will have either rewarded two different kinds of belief—or ended a dream run right where it becomes hardest to keep it alive.
Roland Garros quarterfinals Philippe-Chatrier Maja Chwalinska Anna Kalinskaya Aryna Sabalenka Diana Shnaider Aryna Sabalenka vs Diana Shnaider Chwalinska vs Kalinskaya