Roland-Garros 2026: Quentin Halys first Frenchman qualified for the 3rd round, world No. 2 Rybakina already out… The three things to remember from Wednesday

The competition continues in the heat at Roland-Garros. The first matches of the second round delivered their verdict on Wednesday, May 27, with two top seeds eliminated in the women’s draw, a French qualification in the men’s tournament and a meeting a little more complicated than expected for Novak Djokovic. Franceinfo: sport summarizes the highlights of this third day.

The eliminations of Rybakina and Paolini, the first big sensations of the fortnight

She arrived with the coveted status of the last Grand Slam winner. More than three months after her first title in a Major, during the Australian Open, Elena Rybakina could have great ambitions in Paris, having already reached the quarter-finals twice. But the world No. 2 fell from very high, losing in the 2nd round against the Ukrainian Yulia Starodubtseva (55th in the world) in three sets. Dominated in the second round and at the start of the third, she was nevertheless able to find the resources to get back into the game by equalizing at 4-4 in the final act. But in the super tie-break, she lowered her flag to lose 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 [10/4] in 2h28 of play.

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A thunderclap in the women’s draw, followed a few hours later by the elimination of another contender for final victory, Jasmine Paolini. Finalist of the tournament in 2024 and formidable on clay, she was knocked out in the second round by the young Argentine Solana Sierra (21 years old, 68th in the world), even though she had started her match well by winning the first set (3-6, 6-4, 6-3). The Italian was overcome by emotion after her defeat.

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The French: Valentin Royer shakes Novak Djokovic, Quentin Halys returns to the 3rd round

After dropping a set to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard during the first round, Novak Djokovic continued his path against the French by dropping, again, a set to his opponent. 74th in the world, Valentin Royer did much better than resist against the former world number one, once the first two sets were lost. With his back to the wall, he tried harder to win the third set in the deciding game after saving a match point. And if the Serb made the break to lead 3-1, he had to work hard to conclude the match after 3h44 of play.

In the 100% tricolor duel, Quentin Halys found the means to project himself, for the second year in a row, into the 3rd round by defeating Ugo Humbert. In a match between two players who are not really clay court specialists, the No. 32 seed, less confident than his opponent who was coming out of a semi-final at the Bordeaux Challenger, lost in three sets and two decisive games. A little less than three hours of play, but the Bondynois equals his best result in Paris.

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The other favorites in the third round

In the women’s table, the headliners continue to advance with a bang. Iga Swiatek, four-time winner at Porte d’Auteuil, continued her course so far flawless by dismissing the young Czech Sara Bejlek (20 years old) in two sets (6-2, 6-3).

After a painful first round, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina had a quieter second match against Kaitlin Quevedo (6-0, 6-4), despite the Spaniard waking up in the second set. Her compatriot Marta Kostyuk, 15th in the world, continued her impressive series on clay by scoring a 14th consecutive victory on the surface against the American Katie Volynets (6-7 [4-7]6-3, 6-3).