Best of Roland Garros Round 2: Stock watch, players on the rise and the last French hope

On Wednesday at Roland Garros, we witnessed the demise of No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina at the hands of Yuliia Starodubsteva. 

Roland Garros: Scores | Order of play | Draws 

A day later came the most shocking result the sport has seen in some time. On the men’s side, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner -- winner of 30 straight matches -- succumbed to Juan Manuel Cerundolo and the conditions, joining Rybakina as a second-round exit in Paris.

Nothing is guaranteed in this sport, especially on one of its biggest stages. For the top players who survive and advance, sometimes that alone is good enough.

Stock Watch

Among the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz contenders still standing after Round 2 is No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Elsa Jacquemot in straight sets Thursday, leaving just one French player in the draw (more on that shortly). Defending champion and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff then handled business against Mayar Sherif, allowing both to join fellow top-four seed Iga Swiatek in the third round.

They remain the favorites to reach the semifinals in their respective sections, while Rybakina’s early departure opens the door for those in her quarter.

Five players appear best positioned to capitalize: No. 8 Mirra Andreeva, No. 10 Karolina Muchova, No. 18 Sorana Cirstea, No. 27 Marie Bouzkova and Starodubtseva, who stunned Rybakina 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) in 2 hours and 28 minutes to vault herself into contention.

Here’s the case for each in what was Rybakina's quarter of the draw to lose, based on 2026 clay-court form and past success on the surface, particularly at Roland Garros.

Andreeva

• 17-3 on clay this season, with losses to Rybakina, Gauff and Marta Kostyuk in the Madrid final
• Wins over Swiatek, Cirstea and Jelena Ostapenko
• Two career clay-court titles (Linz 2026, Iasi 2024)
• 2025 Roland Garros quarterfinalist; 2024 semifinalist

Muchova

• 6-2 on clay this season
• Wins over Gauff and Elina Svitolina
• 2026 Stuttgart runner-up
• 2023 Roland Garros finalist

Cirstea

• 12-3 on clay this season with losses to Andreeva and Gauff (twice), the second in the Rome semifinals
• Wins over Sabalenka, Ostapenko and Linda Noskova
• 2021 Istanbul champion
• 2009 Roland Garros quarterfinalist

Bouzkova

• 9-3 on clay this season
• Win over Katerina Siniakova
• 2026 Bogota champion

Starodubtseva

• 13-6 on clay this season across all levels, including qualifying
• Wins over Rybakina and Madison Keys
• 2026 Charleston runner-up

Players on the rise

Leading this list is, of course, Starodubtseva. The 26-year-old from Ukraine made waves earlier this season with a surprise run to the Charleston final, where she lost to Jessica Pegula.

But after defeating Rybakina -- who entered the tournament with an outside shot at the No. 1 ranking -- she is no longer a plucky underdog but a force to be reckoned with. She’ll be favored in her next match against Wang Xiyu, who advanced after Hailey Baptiste retired with an injury. 

While we wait for more news there, we’re sending well wishes and positive vibes her way.

If Starodubtseva gets through Wang, a projected fourth-round meeting with Cirstea awaits. The Romanian is looking to reach her first Roland Garros quarterfinal in 17 (🫨) years!

Others to watch include Maria Sakkari and Daria Kasatkina, former Top 10 players who have struggled with form in recent seasons. But both have looked strong this week and are through to the third round. Sakkari rallied past Claire Liu in three sets, while Kasatkina won a second-set tiebreak 13-11 to beat Susan Bandecchi in straight sets.

Last but not least, keep an eye on Maja Chwalinska. The Polish qualifier experienced a bit of déjà vu Thursday, upsetting No. 23 seed Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-0, the same scoreline she used to knock out last year’s quarterfinalist Zheng Qinwen in the first round.

Chwalinska has now served up a bagel in four of her five matches so far between qualifying and the main draw in Paris. And with wins by Swiatek and Magda Linette on Wednesday, her victory means three Polish women will feature in a Grand Slam third round for the first time.

The last French hope

Just one local favorite remains, as Jacquemot’s exit leaves Diane Parry carrying the tri-colored flag.

Parry did her part Thursday by becoming the latest unseeded player to knock off a seed, defeating No. 30 Ann Li 6-3, 6-4 in just over one and a half hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier. In doing so, she equaled her best Grand Slam result, reaching the third round for the sixth time and the second time at Roland Garros (2022).

She was magnifique on serve, winning a staggering 86% (30 of 35) of her first-serve points. Her reward for that superbe performance is a first meeting with another American in No. 6 seed Amanda Anisimova.

Odds and ends

• Match of the round honors, as dubbed by yours truly, goes to Starodubtseva vs. Rybakina. After the World No. 2 took the opening set, Starodubtseva won nine of the next 10 games to take the second set 6-1 and build a 3-0 lead in the decider. The Ukrainian staved off a late rally by Rybakina and locked in for the tiebreak to seal the upset.

• Rybakina wasn’t the only seed to bite the dust in Round 2, as Solana Sierra ousted No. 13 seed Jasmine Paolini in three sets. Other seeds to fall were No. 23 Mertens, No. 26 Baptiste, No. 29 Jelena Ostapenko -- we were tantalizingly close to Penko-Swiatek Part 7 -- No. 30 Li and No. 32 Wang Xinyu. That leaves 18 of 32 seeds remaining in the draw.
• During her press conference after the breakthrough victory, Starodubsteva told reporters that her boyfriend (and coach), Pearse Dolan, has promised that if she cracks the Top 50 of the PIF WTA Rankings, he'll propose. "He's getting scared now," she said with a laugh.
• In light of a perhaps unexpected proposal, how about the remaining draw for unexpected? Who could have foreseen matches between Starodubtseva and Wang Xiyu and Sakkari and Chwalinska for spots in the fourth round? Of the four, only Sakkari has reached that stage, last doing so at the 2022 Australian Open. For that reason, I’m bestowing Round 3 "Match to watch” honors on those two matches, along with No. 8 Andreeva vs. No. 27 Bouzkova and No. 16 Naomi Osaka vs. No. 17 Iva Jovic.

• To bring us home, the longest match of the second round was a 3-hour, 30-minute thriller between Camila Osorio and Yulia Putintseva. It’s the second-longest match on the WTA Tour in 2026, finishing one minute shy of Jacquemot’s first-round win over Kostyuk at the Australian Open. Putintseva saved four match points in the second set -- all with clean winners -- to force a decider, but Osorio pulled out the victory in the end to reach her first Grand Slam third round.