Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina fell in the biggest upset to date at Roland Garros.
World No. 2 Rybakina lost to 55th-ranked Ukrainian opponent Yulia Staroduptseva 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday.
After a routine first set, the Kazakh players far outnumbered the winners as they struggled in the heat. Starodubtseva recovered to force a tiebreaker, but notched the biggest win of her career.
Rybakina committed 71 unforced errors and suffered her earliest Grand Slam defeat since losing in the second round at the 2024 US Open.
On a big day for Ukraine, Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk, who won titles at the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, respectively, also advanced.
Seventh-seeded Svitolina extended her winning streak to eight with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Kaitlyn Quevedo. The 15th-seeded Kostyuk extended her winning streak to 13 matches with a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 victory over Katie Volinets.
Iga Swiatek defeated No. 35 Sara Bezirek 6-2, 6-3 at Roland Garros, improving her career record to 42 wins and 3 losses.
“Sometimes there were moments where I made mistakes, but at the end I felt like I was the one in control of the game. It was up to me to finish this point or make a mistake,” Swiatek said. “In important moments, I had enough focus and patience to play well.”
Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion, will next face Magda Lynette in her first all-Polish tournament of her professional career (since 1968) at Roland Garros. Lynette defeated 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
Eleventh seed Belinda Bencic defeated Katie McNally (USA) 6-4, 6-0.
The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.
