TENNIS: Rybakina sent packing by Starodubtseva in Paris second round

Elena Rybakina was sent spinning out of the French Open after a 3-6 6-1 7-6(10-4) loss to Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva in the second round on Wednesday, leaving the women's draw short of a genuine contender for the title in Paris.

Russian-born Kazakh Rybakina arrived at Roland Garros as the second seed following her Australian Open victory in January and earned her tour-leading 31st match victory after dismantling Veronika Erjavec in the opening round.

The 26-year-old was unable to conjure up her best form on Court Suzanne Lenglen, however, as she wilted in the deciding set tiebreak and handed the victory to her opponent with a forehand that went long.

It was world number 55 Starodubtseva's first top-five win and she will take on American Hailey Baptiste or China's Wang Xiyu in the third round.

-Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris, editing by Pritha Sarkar/Reuters