TENNIS: Title contender Rybakina shocked by Starodubtseva in Paris second round

Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the French Open after defeating second-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(10-4) in the second round at Roland Garros on Wednesday.

The victory marked Starodubtseva’s first career win over a top-five player and sent one of the tournament’s leading title contenders crashing out early in Paris.

Rybakina, who won the Australian Open in January and entered the French Open as the second seed, looked in control after taking the opening set. However, the Russian-born Kazakh struggled to maintain consistency as Starodubtseva fought back strongly in the second set to level the match.

The deciding set turned into a tense battle, with both players exchanging momentum before Starodubtseva dominated the tiebreak. Rybakina sealed her own exit after sending a forehand long on match point.

“Honestly, it’s hard to describe, I’m super happy,” Starodubtseva said after the match.

“Elena is one of the top players. She’s had an incredible year. I’m super proud of myself that I was able to do this.”

World No. 55 Starodubtseva will next face either American Hailey Baptiste or China’s Wang Xiyu in the third round.

Rybakina struggled with her accuracy throughout the match, committing 71 unforced errors in a contest that featured 107 in total. Despite the mistakes, the 26-year-old attempted a late comeback in the deciding set but could not complete the rally.

Starodubtseva admitted she expected Rybakina to respond strongly during the final set.

“You can’t be thinking it’s ever going to be easy,” she said. “Even at 3-0 up, I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy. Tough match, but happy to be the winner today.”

Rybakina later expressed disappointment with her performance, saying she was unable to find her rhythm despite feeling confident entering the tournament after winning a clay-court title in Stuttgart earlier this season.

“I thought that I could raise the level, but actually today it was a very bad performance, too many unforced errors,” Rybakina said.

“I was trying to find a way, but it clearly didn’t work.”

-Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing by Pritha Sarkar/Reuters