French Open: Rybakina Crashes Out After Shock Defeat To Starodubtseva

Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina suffered a shock early exit from the French Open on Wednesday after losing to unseeded Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva in the second round.

The Kazakh world number two appeared to be in control after taking the opening set on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but her game fell apart as Starodubtseva fought back to claim a dramatic 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10/4) victory at Roland Garros.

It was the biggest win of Starodubtseva’s career and her first victory over a top-10 opponent.

Reacting after the match, the world number 55 said she was proud of the way she handled the pressure, especially in a difficult final set.

“Honestly, hard to describe, I’m super happy,” Starodubtseva said.

“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.”

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

The Ukrainian has already equalled her best performance at a Grand Slam. She previously reached the third round of the French Open 12 months ago as a lucky loser before losing to Jasmine Paolini.

Rybakina began the contest strongly in the heat on Court Suzanne Lenglen, racing into a 5-1 lead in the opening set.

She closed out the set 6-3 and looked set for a routine passage into the next round.

However, the momentum changed quickly in the second set as Starodubtseva found her rhythm and began to put pressure on the second seed.

The Ukrainian reeled off the first five games of the second set before going on to level the match at one set apiece.

Rybakina came under more pressure at the start of the deciding set after losing the opening three games to fall a double break down.

But the Kazakh dug deep, breaking back before saving two break points to reduce the deficit to 3-2.

She then broke again as the match reached the two-hour mark, drawing level at 4-4 and putting herself back in contention.

Starodubtseva, however, refused to collapse. She held serve in the 12th game of the final set to force a deciding tie-break.

The tie-break began badly for Rybakina, who opened it with a double fault.

Starodubtseva quickly took control, moving 6-2 ahead and putting herself within touching distance of a famous victory.

She sealed the win on her second match point after Rybakina sent a forehand wide.

“You can’t be thinking it will be easy, even at 3-0 (in the third set), I was thinking this might still not be easy,” Starodubtseva said.

The defeat marked Rybakina’s earliest exit from any WTA tournament since the 2025 Miami Open.

It was also her first loss in the opening two rounds of a Grand Slam since the 2024 Australian Open.