Madison Keys entered the fourth round at Roland Garros as the last American woman left in a singles draw at the 2026 French Open, but a disastrous third set against Diana Schneider (6-3, 3-6, 6-0) ended her dreams of winning a second career Grand Slam title.
Keys struggled to serve early in the match and was broken in his first three service games, losing the first set. She calmly flipped the script in the second set, winning six consecutive service games and taking a decisive third set, where she appeared to have control of the match. However, service issues reared their ugly head and the wheels came off with a disappointing performance in Love’s final set, ending his visit to Roland Garros.
In a year where favorites dropped like flies early on in both draws, the 2026 French Open represents a momentous opportunity for players to win a rare Grand Slam title. In the women’s draw, four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek, second seed Jelena Rybakina and last year’s champion Coco Gauff all lost before the quarterfinals, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka still has to face Naomi Osaka.
This kind of upset would have opened the door for another top American women’s player to follow Gauff’s lead last year and win in Paris. Instead, despite entering the tournament with seven seeded players, by the time the quarterfinals arrived, there wasn’t a single American flag left in the bracket.
Jessica Pegula, who just appeared in two Grand Slam semifinals, was eliminated in the first round. Haley Baptiste suffered a leg injury and was forced to retire in the second round. Frenchwoman Diane Parry knocked out Ang Lee and Amanda Anisimova in consecutive matches, while Iva Jovic joined Gauff and Anisimova in losing in the third round. That was the last hope left for Keyes, who caught the service-struggle bug that has plagued many Americans over the past week at the worst possible time, and will be watching the game from home in one of the biggest draws in recent memory.
Apart from Sabalenka and Osaka, there is no player left in the women’s draw who does not have a Grand Slam title or even a Grand Slam finalist. That means someone will record a career-best finish this week, and there’s a good chance a first-ever Grand Slam champion will be crowned. Unfortunately for the large American force that arrived in Paris only a week or so ago, no one will be able to take advantage of that opportunity.
