2026 French Open results: 2nd seed Elena Rybakina lost in the 2nd round

There were some major upsets in the first round of the 2026 French Open, but none were more earth-shaking than Yulia Starodubtseva’s 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-4) victory over second-seeded Elena Rybakina in the women’s draw to start the second round on Wednesday.

Rybakina seemed to have the upper hand in the early stages, but Starodubtseva flipped the script in the second set and dominated the middle stages of the match. She started the third set with a 3-0 lead, but began to stall in the final stages, and the second seed managed to get back on track and force the final set tiebreak to 10 points. At that point it was hoped that Rybakina would calm down and restore order, but Starodubtseva had other ideas and pounced on Rybakina’s sloppy mistakes, pulling off the biggest upset ever at Roland Garros.

Rybakina racked up 71 unforced errors in the match, while the Ukrainian only made 36, completely eroding the advantage she had gained with 23 winners to Starodubtseva’s just 13. She also struggled to get her first serve in, which gave Starodubtseva an opening to attack and force the number two on her back foot. Starodubtseva appeared to be aware that her higher-ranked opponent was not at her best and played a controlled and intelligent match. Normally, the longer the match, the better the favorite, but in this case Starodubtseva was able to prolong the match and demand a higher level of tennis than Rybakina was able to display that day.

Rybakina’s loss leaves the bottom half of the women’s draw wide open, with third seed and four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek becoming an even bigger favorite to advance to the final. The top half of the women’s bracket is still star-studded, even though fifth-seeded Jessica Pegula lost in the first round, and last year’s final matchup between Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff could turn into a semifinal showdown.