The 2026 edition of the Roland Garros has already thrown some big upsets in the initial few days. The biggest upset of the tournament took place on Wednesday as World number two Elena Rybakina suffered a surprise second-round defeat by 55th-ranked Yuliia Starodubtseva. Rybakina looked far from her clinical best as Starodubtseva made an impressive comeback to win the match in the third set. Elena Rybakina was one of the favorite leading up to this tournament and this defeat has opened up the Women’s draw completely.

Despite winning the opening set, Rybakina struggled throughout the match as she committed 71 unforced errors and landed just 53% of her first serves.This is the first time Kazakhstan's Rybakina has failed to reach the third round at the Roland Garros since 2020, while it is her earliest exit from a Grand Slam since the 2024 Australian Open. Rybakina's early exit also means Sabalenka will keep her Number 1 ranking regardless of how the rest of the tournament goes.

How the Match panned out

Elena Rybakina made a bright start to the match as she quickly went to 5-1 and took the lead in the first set. She lost a few games but managed to win the first set 6-3. It looked as if Rybakina was all set to cruise to a win. But in a dramatic turn of events Starodubtseva won nine of the next 10 games to level the match as she clinched the second set 6-1 and took it to the decider. Starodubtseva started brilliantly in the third set going 3-0 up but Rybakina managed to comeback and the final set went to a tie breaker. Elena Rybakina struggled in the tie-breaker and eventually lost the match. This is one of the biggest wins of Starodubtseva who is ranked 55 in the world.

Starodubtseva beats Elena Rybakina 3-6 6-1 7-6 (10-4).

Speaking after getting the win, Starodubtseva said. "I'm super happy. Elena is one of the top players, she's had an incredible year and I'm super proud of myself that I was able to do this today," she added. She will face American 26th seed Hailey Baptiste or China's Wang Xiyu in the next round.