Elena Rybakina suffers shocking loss to Yuliia Starodubtseva at French Open

World No. 2 Elena Rybakina suffered a shocking upset loss at the hands of Yuliia Starodubtseva in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday, May 27.

It certainly wasn’t an easy win for Starodubtseva. The 26-year-old Ukrainian dropped the first set to Rybakina 3-6 before winning back-to-back sets to secure the victory. Even in the final set though, Staodubtseva needed to come back from down three games to none in order to win, ultimately prevailing in the set 7-6(3).

NO. 2 ELENA RYBAKINA FALLS TO YULIIA STARODUBTSEVA 😱

Rybakina lost two straight sets after winning the first.

Watch Roland-Garros on TNT 📺 pic.twitter.com/X5QMKwlBXV

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 27, 2026

This is undoubtedly the biggest win of Starodubtseva’s career. Although she has reached the third round of the French Open before, she’s never defeated such a high-profile opponent before. That said, just last year, Starodubtseva managed another huge upset, knocking off No. 4 Jasmine Paolini in the second round.

Rybakina, meanwhile, fresh off a win at the Australian Open ealrier this year, suffered one of the most unprecedented losses of her career. Not only was she expected to compete for her first French Open title, but she was also one of the biggest obstacles left in the path of No. 3 Iga Swiatek.

Swiatek’s path to the French Open Finals is clearer than ever before. With Rybakina’s loss, the absence of Aryna Sabalenka from her side of the bracket, and No. 29 Jelena Ostapenko’s loss in the second round – whom Swiatek is 0-6 against for her career — Swiatek could be well on her way to a potential fifth French Open victory.

When does Starodubtseva play next?

Starodubtseva’s third-round matchup will be against the winner between No. 26 Hailey Baptiste and Wang Xiyu. At the time of writing this, that match is in the middle of the first set.

That third-round matchup will take place on Friday, May 29.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elena Rybakina upset by Yuliia Starodubtseva at French Open