Venus Williams has now provided her official prediction ahead of the women’s Roland Garros final tomorrow.
It marks one of the more shocking match-ups in recent memory at this stage of such an event, guaranteeing a brand-new major champion no matter the result.
Both finalists have impressed massively over the last two weeks, with Mirra Andreeva cruising through her draw with minimal fuss.
However, it is Maja Chwalinska who is really stealing the headlines, having come through qualifying to reach the final against all the odds.
And, Venus Williams actually thinks she might have an advantage in the final as well.
Venus Williams predicts who will win the women’s Roland Garros final
Speaking to TNT Sports, the American first insisted: “It’s definitely a Cinderella story.”
Williams continued: “I think one of the advantages that she has, Maja, is that no one’s played her before. She’s seen everyone else play, no one’s played her, and she plays a little bit different than most players. Every player is used to seeing maybe a little more pace, a little more speed; the women’s game has become even more of a power game than it ever was.
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“She’s coming out, like, rolling the ball, and everybody’s like, What do we do? Maybe overhitting, overplaying, overthinking, thinking, and I should be winning easier.” And then they’re packing their bags and going home.
“So she definitely has that advantage, and Mirra is gonna have a lot to think about.
Williams then recalled when she had to play an ‘upstart’ in a major final, adding: “She came through, beat everyone, and as a player that’s supposed to win, you definitely think about it. I was thinking about it, and maybe didn’t play my best. I pulled through, but, you know, I kind of had some moments where it didn’t work the way I was hoping.”
She concluded by naming her winner, rather shockingly tipping Chwalinska to complete her fairytale story and take the title, despite Andreeva making tennis history by reaching the final.
Maja Chwalinska to suffer strange Wimbledon situation after Roland Garros
Whilst she still has one match to play, for Chwalinska, there is an upcoming issue which she will have to tackle soon.
After all, we could be about to see the most recent Grand Slam champion forced to enter Wimbledon through qualifying, due to the way in which the ranking system works.
Because the third major of the year takes the rankings from before Roland Garros, the Polish star is listed as 114th in the rankings.
This means, if she wants to gain entry into the main draw, the 23-year-old will either need to go through qualifying or gain a wildcard.
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Chwalinska has put Wimbledon in a really tricky situation, as they will have plenty of players vying for one of those coveted wildcard spots. There’s a very real chance that the would-be Roland Garros champion might not gain direct entry into this Grand Slam.
Ultimately, given how incredible her run in Paris has been after coming through qualifying, Chwalinska perhaps might not mind getting the opportunity to do it all over again.
