World number two and second seed Elena Rybakina was knocked out in the second round of the 2026 French Open by world number 55 Yuliia Starodubtseva on May 27. Starodubtseva won a tight match 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-4) to record her first top-10 victory and biggest career win to date [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
Rybakina took the first set 6-3 but struggled to maintain momentum. She lost the second set 1-6 and then fell in a closely contested third set tiebreak 10-4. She committed 71 unforced errors and only landed about 53% of her first serves, which hampered her performance [1, 5, 6, 7].
The loss was Rybakina's earliest exit from a Grand Slam since the 2024 US Open and her first defeat in the opening rounds of a major since the 2024 Australian Open. She came into the French Open riding a 31-match winning streak in 2026 and as the reigning Australian Open champion [2, 8, 3, 9, 10, 6].
Starodubtseva credited her mental toughness in the third set, saying, "Honestly, hard to describe, I'm super happy. 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." She also noted, "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" [3, 4].
Rybakina reflected on her performance, stating, "It's just a pity because I think I was practicing well before the French Open and I was feeling also good in the practices and thought that I can raise the level. But actually today it was a very bad performance, too many unforced errors, and I didn't feel the greatest" [6].
Starodubtseva will next face either American Hailey Baptiste or China's Wang Xiyu in the third round [2, 3, 9, 4, 6].
Rybakina's exit also opens the bottom half of the women's draw, potentially increasing the chances for other top players such as Iga Swiatek in the tournament's later rounds [5, 6].
