Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina was eliminated in the second round of the French Open after losing to unseeded Ukrainian player Yuliia Starodubtseva in Paris on Wednesday.
The world number two lost 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) after holding a one set lead before Starodubtseva recovered to secure the win at Roland Garros. The result marks Rybakina’s earliest exit from a WTA tournament since the 2025 Miami Open and her first defeat in the opening two rounds of a Grand Slam since the 2024 Australian Open.
Starodubtseva, ranked world number 55, recorded her first win over a top 10 opponent. She said: “Honestly, hard to describe, I am super happy.”
She added: “I am 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.”
The Ukrainian also noted the difficulty of closing out the match despite leading in the final set. She said: “You cannot be thinking it will be easy, even at 3-0 in the third set, I was thinking this might still not be easy.”
Rybakina started strongly on Court Suzanne Lenglen, moving into a 5-1 lead before taking the opening set. However, Starodubtseva responded by winning the first five games of the second set to level the match.
In the deciding set, Rybakina fell behind early after losing the first three games but recovered to bring the set back to 4-4 after two breaks of serve. The match was decided in a tiebreak, where Starodubtseva moved into a 6-2 lead before converting her second match point.
Starodubtseva’s previous best Grand Slam result came at the French Open 12 months ago when she reached the third round as a lucky loser.
