Maja Chwalinska, Polish tennis player and most recently Roland Garros finalist, in a run where she became the first qualifier to reach the final at the French Open, eventually losing to Mirra Andreeva but earning praise worldwide, has suffered a heart-breaking setback in his debut match at Wimbledon, losing to Mananchaya Sawangkaew in 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 after suffering a fall and breaking her ankle... when she had a match point.
Chwalinska was only ranked World No. 114 when the draw cut-off was made (she is now World No. 21), so she received a wildcard invitation to play the grass Grand Slam. And everything seemed fine, with a 5-2 in the second set and a match point, when she slipped on the grass. She requested a medical timeout after that game and despite having another match point later, 5-4, she lost movement as she had twisted her ankle.
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During the last games of the third set, Chwalinska didn't even run for the match, but still managed to finish the match in tears. "I wanted to continue, but I didn't feel comfortable moving, so I wanted to tape it. But, you know, I would lose this point anyway, like it doesn't matter if I fell or not. It definitely didn't help me later on, but it is what it is", said the Polish player.
Sawangkaew, 23-year-old, ranked 164 in the world, had spent six month side-lined due to back injury, and became the first Thai player to win a match at Wimbledon since Luksika Kumkhum reached the second round in 2018.