The Wimbledon dilemma: Maja Chwalinska may need to play qualifying even in event of winning French Open as wildcard hunt begins

A potential first time Grand Slam champion not playing at Wimbledon sounds crazy on paper but could be reality if Maja Chwalinska manages to win the French Open this weekend when she faces Mirra Andreeva in the final.

Wimbledon has a strange quirk as a Grand Slam where they go based on the Roland Garros ranking position to plot their entry list. So Chwalinska, who is now on course to reach the top 20 at least, was outside the top 100 at the start of the French Open and had to play qualifying. This in itself has lent itself to the fairytale element, but also may thwart her grass court hopes.

Because of this, she likely needs a wildcard for the tournament come what may, as otherwise she will have to play qualifying and create a huge story in itself, even if she doesn't win the title.

She is currently 14th outside of the main draw spots without withdrawals, with Vidmanova and Francesca Jones currently the players who would benefit next, and with injuries, for instance to Hailey Baptiste, they are likely in the draw already. But there are multiple other elements to this.

For instance, the Brits of it all, as Wimbledon, albeit not as fiercely as the French Open, tend to hand the majority of wildcards out to players from the UK. Those currently immediately without a way in include Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Mingge Xu, Alicia Dudeney, Mika Stojsavljevic, and Yuriko Miyazaki. But also, in addition, Heather Watson and Jodie Burrage also don't have them and have either had results in the past or have come off injury layoffs in the form of Burrage.

So while they likely wouldn't feasibly go down the route of snubbing a player like Chwalinska, it perhaps isn't as clear cut. Also the nightmare semi continues for the All England Lawn and Tennis Club if Serena Williams decides she wants to play singles and not just doubles.

As a legend of the sport, it would be that the tournament would likely have to hand spots to both her and also Venus Williams creating a double conundrum.

So for a tournament which sets its rules so early, it perhaps is going to shoot itself in the foot if the latest Grand Slam champion or finalist then has to go through qualifying for the next tournament. Albeit of course Chwalinska won't have to go through many of these situations at least for a year given that her ranking will now reflect her seed so she will get the opportunities that this run has presented. While Wimbledon may have to snub some of their own or legends to get her in.