Roland-Garros 2026: The Most Chaotic French Open in Recent Memory
Paris was supposed to crown its next champion. Instead, it just swallowed the field.
Roland-Garros 2026 will go down as one of the most extraordinary French Opens in the Open Era — a fortnight defined not by who won, but by who fell, and how fast. Here's a breakdown of the biggest upsets that turned Paris upside down.
Men's Draw
Jannik Sinner (No. 1) vs. Juan Manuel Cerúndolo (No. 56) — Round 2
The world No. 1 and runaway title favorite was defeated in stunning fashion for the first time in 31 matches, with world No. 56 Juan Manuel Cerúndolo winning 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1. Sinner had cruised through the first two sets and led 5-1 in the third before cramping up and hitting a physical wall. Cerúndolo stormed back to win 18 of the final 20 games and became the first man to oust the top seed at Roland-Garros before the third round since Karol Kucera in 2000.
Novak Djokovic (No. 3) vs. João Fonseca (No. 28) — Round 3
24-time major winner Novak Djokovic was ousted in a five-set thriller (4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5) by 19-year-old rising Brazilian star João Fonseca on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The loss is Djokovic's earliest at Roland-Garros since 2009, and Fonseca became the first teenager to take down the legend in a Grand Slam. With Alcaraz already out due to a wrist injury and Sinner gone, the men's draw was left completely wide open.
Daniil Medvedev (No. 6) and Alexander Bublik (No. 9) — Round 1
The chaos started before the big names even fell. No. 6 seed Medvedev fell in five sets to Australia's Adam Walton — his second consecutive first-round exit at Roland-Garros. No. 9 Bublik was eliminated in four sets by veteran Jan-Lennard Struff, who controlled the net and neutralized Bublik's serve throughout. Two top-10 seeds gone before week one was done (Do It Tennis).
Women's Draw
Elena Rybakina (No. 2) — Round 2
Rybakina was a shadow of herself as she lost 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) to an inspired Yuliia Starodubtseva. The world No. 2 racked up a whopping 71 unforced errors, which ultimately cost her dearly. One of the tournament's top favorites was gone before the second week even started.
Coco Gauff (No. 4, Defending Champion) vs. Anastasia Potapova (No. 30) — Round 3
Reigning champion Coco Gauff's title defense ended unexpectedly as the world No. 4 fell to No. 30 Anastasia Potapova 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4. Gauff had won the first set before Potapova rallied and took over. The loss cost Gauff nearly all of her 2,000 ranking points from her 2025 title run. "I fought my hardest," she said, "but I don't think I played the way I wanted to in the crucial moments."
Iga Swiatek (No. 3) vs. Marta Kostyuk (No. 15) — Round of 16
On her 25th birthday, four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek was beaten in straight sets — at the tournament she once seemed to own. The match turned on a single game: Swiatek served for the opening set at 5-4 and could not close it out, broken to love by a Kostyuk who had spent the previous 50 minutes growing into the contest. Kostyuk's 7-5, 6-1 win extended her unbeaten streak on clay to 16 matches this season — only the second woman after Justine Henin in 2005 to reach that mark. It was Swiatek's earliest Roland-Garros exit since 2019.
Aryna Sabalenka (No. 1) vs. Diana Shnaider — Quarterfinals
The one that stings the most and perhaps most surprising. Sabalenka hadn't dropped a set in any of her first four rounds and was two points away from winning the second set before everything unraveled. She wasted a lead of a set and two breaks to lose 3-6, 7-5, 6-0, dropping 10 straight games to close the match. The defeat is agonizing because Sabalenka was the only one of the top six seeds still standing after Gauff, Swiatek, Anisimova, Rybakina, and Pegula had all been eliminated. A visibly gutted Sabalenka told reporters she wanted to "quit tennis right now." But we are sure she will come back stronger.
Who's Left Standing
After all the carnage, the semifinals are set and they couldn't be more wide-open. On the men's side: Alexander Zverev, Jakub Menšík, Matteo Arnaldi, and Flavio Cobolli. The men's draw is guaranteed to produce a first-time Grand Slam champion and an Italian finalist, with none of the four semifinalists ever having won a major.
On the women's side, the story is even wilder: at just 24, Maja Chwalińska is the oldest semifinalist left in the women's tournament. She came through qualifying to reach this stage. Diana Shnaider, Marta Kostyuk, and Mirra Andreeva round out a semifinal field that nobody predicted. Roland-Garros 2026 is handing out a first-time Slam title on both draws — and Paris has never felt more unpredictable.
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