LONDON — An untimely injury and a valiant opponent led to the first major defeat of Wimbledon 2026 as qualifier Mananchaya Savangkaev saved one match point to defeat 20th seed Maya Khvalinska 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 in 2 hours 41 minutes.
Roland Garros finalist Hwalinska, playing her first grass match of the season, was within points of a 6-2, 5-2 victory but slipped on the grass behind the baseline, allowing Sawangkaew to hit the winning volley. The injury didn’t seem serious at first, but after losing that game, Hwalinska needed a medical break and treatment on his right leg.
The next two games were also doubles, but Sawangkaew managed to avoid another match point, returning the score to 5-5 for Khvalinska. From there, Khvalinskaya’s movement deteriorated sharply as Sawangkaew completed the second set.
Although Hwalinska made an early break with a 2-0 lead in the decider, the final six games of the match were one-way traffic for Sawangkaew. By the end, Khvalinska could barely push off with her right foot on either the serve or return play.
The 164th-ranked Sawangkaew, who also saved three match points in her last qualifying round to defeat Ocean Dodin 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, picked up her first Grand Slam main draw win and her first win over a top-30 opponent. The Thai made her Grand Slam main draw debut at the Australian Open in January after being sidelined for six months last year with a back injury sustained at Roland Garros.
Sawangkaew is the first Thai player to win a match at Wimbledon since Luksika Kumkhum reached the second round in 2018. Sing Buri, 23, is one of two Thai women in this year’s main draw, a joint Open Era record. If Lanlana Tararudi wins her first match against Lilly Tugger and joins Sawangkaew, it will be the first time two Thai women have reached the second round of a Grand Slam tournament.
The entertaining tilt unfortunately ends: Leading up to the tournament, the question for Khvalinskaya was whether she could transfer her clay-court game to grass. Within a set and a half, the answer was a resounding yes.
Abandoning the high forehand topspin that had served her so well in Paris, Hwalinska instead used a sharp shot that had little bounce and sharp angles to drag Sawangkaew off the court. The drop shot that delighted Roland Garros fans and baffled her opponents proved just as effective on grass, and Chwalinski’s confidence was evident in her willingness to finish points to the net and her excellent big-point play. When she fought off a triple break point to hold for 5-2 in the second set – a game in which she used drop shots, counter drops and lobs – the sea of ​​Polish flags on Court 12 seemed poised to celebrate her advance to the second round.
However, even at this point the fight was closer than the score suggested. Sawangkaew was slow to come out of the blocks, trailing 5-0 in less than 20 minutes, but once she got a foothold, she was able to show off her skills on the grass.
With a sharp shot, enough speed to track even some of Khvalinskaya’s best shots, and some reckless play in front of goal, Sawangkaew was only let down by cheap mistakes in big moments. When the pair played at their best, the rallies were exciting. But as soon as Khvalinskaya’s movement, one of the cornerstones of her game, began to disappear, so did the competitiveness of the competition.