There have been several incredible surprises in tennis this year, across both the ATP and WTA Tours.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz were expected to clean up once again at the Grand Slams in 2026, but they were only able to collect one each due to injury issues.

Instead, Alexander Zverev was able to capitalise to win his first two Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros and the US Open, after years of being dubbed the best player to never win a major.

On the WTA Tour, Aryna Sabalenka stunned fans by not collecting a single major, while the likes of Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek also ended the season without a Grand Slam triumph.

Instead of the big guns on the WTA Tour, Mirra Andreeva and Linda Noskova became Grand Slam champions for the first time, while the likes of Karolina Muchova and Maja Chwalinska reached Grand Slam finals for the first time in her career.

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Chwalinska’s run to the Roland Garros final as a qualifier has been heavily praised by Martina Navratilova, who called it her favourite moment of the entire 2026 season.

Asked by The Tennis Channel about her particular 2026 highlights, the multi-time Grand Slam champion responded: “For me, Maja Chwalinska getting to the finals of the French Open.

“Came out of nowhere, now she’s going to finish top 20 in the world. And she plays kind of old-style tennis. For me, that’s the biggest surprise. Maja Chwalinska, the tip of the hat.”

Chwalinska’s run to the Roland Garros final looked to be a fluke in the direct aftermath of reaching the Grand Slam final.

She suffered opening round defeats at Wimbledon, the Canadian Open, and the US Open before the WTA Tour’s Asian swing.

Her fortunes changed in Asia as she reached the semifinals of the Singapore Open, before her incredible Wuhan Open triumph recently at Masters level.

The Pole defeated Iga Swiatek, Maria Sakkari, Iva Jovic, and Marie Bouzkova, before toppling Sonay Kartal in the final to claim her first Masters title.

As a result of her Wuhan Open title victory, she’s joined Sabalenka as the only player to win a Masters title and reach a Grand Slam final on the WTA Tour this season.

For a player who started Roland Garros ranked as the world No 114, that is an incredibly impressive achievement. She currently sits at world No 11 in the WTA Tour rankings and she has an outside chance of earning a place as an alternate at the WTA Finals later this year.