Maja Chwalinska Tells John McEnroe She Knows Perfectly Who He Is in Hilarious Interaction: “I Watched Vintage Tennis”

Maja Chwalinska needed just one win to complete her fairytale run at the French Open. But in the final, she was no match for Mirra Andreeva, losing with scores of 6-3, 6-2.

And later, when she sat for her interview on TNT Sports, John McEnroe jokingly asked her whether she had any idea who he is. “You really know who I am? At 24 years old?” asked McEnroe, to which Chwalinska said: “Are you kidding?” McEnroe responded with, “No, not at all!” And at this moment, the Pole jokingly placed the legend in the vintage category.

Of course I know who you are! When I was younger, I watched a lot of tennis. And even vintage tennis… Sorry! (laughs) So yes, I know perfectly who you are.

Maja Chwalinska said

Watch their interaction here:

Of course Maja Chwalinska knows who John McEnroe is 😅 pic.twitter.com/9uum6bVip0

— TNT Sports (@tntsports) June 7, 2026

Chwalinska entered the clay-court Major as a qualifier, and on her main draw debut, she eliminated 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist Qinwen Zheng. The 24-year-old then went on to defeat three seeded players en route to the title clash (Elise Mertens in the second round, Anna Kalinskaya in the quarterfinal, and Diana Shnaider in the semifinals).

Chwalinska had made the main draw of Majors just twice before this event (at the 2022 Wimbledon and the 2025 Australian Open). She entered the Paris Major as a player ranked outside of the top 100, and on Monday, she reached her career-best No.21 ranking.

Andreeva, on the other hand, had played just one Grand Slam semifinal before this tournament. She reached the stage at the 2024 French Open, losing to eventual runner-up Jasmine Paolini. The Russian ace clinched her third Big Title in the French capital after the 2025 Dubai Tennis Championships (beat Clara Tauson) and the 2025 Indian Wells Open (Aryna Sabalenka).

Maja Chwalinska says fatigue is not an excuse for her defeat

At the press conference after her defeat, Maja Chwalinska said Mirra Andreeva deserved all the credit for her win and that, even though she was tired, it was not the excuse for her defeat. Chwalinska also joked that now that the French Open is finally done and dusted, she could finally regain the joy of eating.

Obviously, I was tired, but it’s normal; I think anyone would be. We play a lot of matches, but all credit to Mirra because she is an incredible player, very solid. She handled the conditions much better than I did, so she deserved to win completely today. I did everything I had been doing for the past three weeks, but there were definitely nerves.

In one of the press conferences, Chwalinska revealed that her team had been eating pizza every day for superstitious reasons.

I was very stressed, even though, honestly, I was nervous before every match. I couldn’t eat for the last three weeks; my coaches were eating pizza, and I was saying: ‘No’. So now I’m excited to finish the tournament and maybe regain the joy of eating (laughs).

Maja Chwalinska added

Chwalinska will be taking a break and won’t be playing a grass-court tournament before Wimbledon, where, despite her latest ranking, she won’t get a direct entry. She also doesn’t expect a wild card from the tournament, believing that if she indeed gets one, it “would be the news of the century“.

In 2022 Wimbledon, after qualifying for the main draw, Chwalinska lost to Alison Riske-Amritraj in three sets in the second round. The main draw of the grass-court Major is set to start on June 29. Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek will enter the event as the defending champion. She double-bagelled Amanda Anisimova last year.

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