Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan reacts as she plays against Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine during their second round women's singles tennis match at the French Open. | Photo Credit: AP

Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina suffered a shock early exit in the French Open second round on Wednesday at the hands of unseeded Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva.

The Kazakh world number two blew a one-set lead in dramatic fashion at Roland Garros, slumping to a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10/4) loss.

“Honestly, hard to describe, I’m super happy,” said world number 55 Starodubtseva after beating a top-10 opponent for the first time in her career.

“I’m super proud of myself that I was able to do this today. It was a tricky third set but I got it done in the end.”

It is Rybakina’s earliest exit from any WTA tournament since the 2025 Miami Open and first defeat in the opening two rounds of a major since the 2024 Australian Open.

Starodubtseva will face either in-form American 26th seed Hailey Baptiste or China’s Wang Xiyu for a place in the last 16.

She has already matched her previous best run at a Grand Slam event, when she lost to Jasmine Paolini in the French Open third round as a lucky loser 12 months ago.

Late bloomer Korpatsch enjoying ‘special’ French Open run

Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch said on Wednesday that it was “special” to reach the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time at the age of 31, after spending part of her earlier career sleeping in a car while competing far from the bright lights of the French Open.

Korpatsch will face Italian Open champion Elina Svitolina for a place in the second week at Roland Garros after a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Chinese 32nd seed Wang Xinyu.

Her victory over Wang on Court 7 in Paris was already a big step up from the first stage of her career, which was spent playing in unglamourous ITF tournaments.

Published on May 27, 2026