Elena Rybakina knocked out in French Open upset

By Eleanor Crooks, Press Association Tennis Correspondent, Paris

Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina crashed out in the biggest upset so far at Roland Garros.

The second seed looked to be heading for a routine win when she took the opening set against Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva in the second round on a sweltering Court Suzanne Lenglen.

But Rybakina began to find life a lot more difficult and Starodubtseva, ranked 55 and in good form, won nine of the next 10 games to lead 3-0 in the decider.

The Kazakh player’s errors were far outpacing her winners as she toiled in the heat and, although she recovered to force a tie-break, Starodubtseva completed the biggest win of her career with a 3-6 6-1 7-6 (10/4) success.

It is Rybakina’s earliest grand slam exit since a second-round loss at the US Open in 2024, with an eventual tally of 71 unforced errors telling its own story.

Four-time champion Iga Swiatek comfortably avoided the same fate, easing into round three with a 6-2 6-3 win over young Czech Sara Bejlek.

The Pole has had a difficult season so far but appears to be heading in the right direction under new coach Francisco Roig, even if she was not entirely happy with her performance.

“Sometimes I had some moments where the mistakes happened but, at the end, I feel like I was the one that had control over the game, and it was up to me if I’m going to finish this points or make a mistake,” she said.

“In important moments I was focused and patient enough to play solid.”

Swiatek will also be relieved not to have to face Jelena Ostapenko, against whom she has a 0-6 record, next after the Latvian lost to another Pole, Magda Linette.

In-form seventh seed Elina Svitolina had a much easier time of it after her first-round struggles, beating Kaitlin Quevedo 6-0 6-4.