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Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 27, 2026 Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva celebrates winning her second round match against Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
REUTERS / REUTERS
Unseeded Yuliia Starodubtseva knocked out No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-4) during Thursday’s second-round action at Roland-Garros.
This is the first time that Rybakina, who won the Australian Open in January, has failed to reach the third round at Roland-Garros since 2020. The 26-year-old Starodubtseva, who is the world No. 55, is at Roland-Garros for the third time. As a Lucky Loser last year, she reached the third round before falling to Jasmine Paolini in straight sets.
After dropping the first set, Rybakina dominated the second set 6-1. In the final set, she fell down 3-0 before rallying to even the set 4-4. Starodubtseva managed to hold her serve twice and pounce on Rybakina's mistakes, which saw her end with 71 unforced errors.
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“I’m just proud of myself,” Starodubtseva said after the match. “It was a hard third set.”
The victory is Starodubtseva's furst against a top-10 opponent, snapping a six-match losing streak.
This is the earliest a No. 2 seed has lost at Roland-Garros since Barbora Krejčíková failed to defend her title after going out in the first round in 2022.
Starodubtseva will face either No. 26 seed Hailey Baptiste or qualifier Wang Xiyu of China.
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