Hailey Baptiste Issues New Update After Undergoing ACL Surgery Following French Open: ‘It Was Scary’

When Hailey Baptiste fell on the clay of the French Open 2026 and screamed, everyone watching had their heart in their mouth. She left the court in a wheelchair, a towel draped over her head, her father, Qasim, in tears nearby after being asked to step back from the court. The injury had happened in an instant, and the visuals were not looking pretty.

Nearly a week later, she has undergone surgery, and the recovery has begun. Baptiste posted from her hospital bed on Thursday, giving the first update since the injury.

“It was scary, but I did it 😮‍💨 surgery was successful and recovery has started,” she wrote on her Instagram. “Thank you to everyone at @hspecialsurgery for making this such a smooth and comfortable process. Special thanks to @rileywilliamsmd for cleaning up the mess I made of my knee 😅”

The image she shared showed her sitting upright in a hospital bed, peace sign raised, looking composed. It was as close as it could be to her since the occasion of everything ceasing to happen on Court Six.

In the first set of her second-round match against Wang Xiyu, while hitting a forehand, Baptiste’s left knee buckled when she landed on the clay. She fell and began to scream, but she grabbed her knee right away. Her father, Qasim, who was in the stands, ran onto the court to comfort her.

Chair umpire Marija Cicak eventually brought him back when the medical team took over. Unable to bear any weight on her left leg, she was helped into a wheelchair and rolled off the court to a standing ovation from the Paris crowd, a towel covering her face. The crowd sensed immediately that this was serious. It was.

Baptiste’s agent confirmed through Jim Courier on TNT that she had suffered ACL and meniscus damage. Surgery was imminent, and she was expected to miss a minimum of six months on tour. She also pulled out of the women’s doubles draw, where she was paired with Venus Williams.

It was a terrible blow when it happened, in relation to what she had accomplished. The American had arrived at the French Open as the 26th seed, her first-ever Grand Slam seeding, on the back of the best run of her career. She had reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Miami and then gone one round further in Madrid, where she stunned world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka en route to the semifinals.

In that Sabalenka match, she saved six match points before completing the biggest win of her career. She had also just signed a Nike apparel deal in the days before the tournament began. A career-high ranking of No. 25 in the world. A first Grand Slam seeding. A new sponsor. Everything was in place.

In the opening round at Roland Garros, she edged former champion Barbora Krejcokova in a three-set battle, saving two match points along the way and closing it out 6-7(7), 7-6(6), 6-2. She then reached the second round, only for the match to end almost as soon as it began when her very first forehand swing brought everything to a halt.

With all the support came something ugly in its wake. Several social media users cited Baptiste’s body as a factor in the injury, and some comments suggested that her body weight made the landing more difficult.

Former player and coach Rennae Stubbs did not let it pass. “Do you know how many women tear their ACLs in sports? Like, this is such a stupid comment to make. Go do some research. The insensitivity of this comment just got me,” Stubbs wrote.

When another user directly posted that “the extra body weight added so much pressure to the landing,” Stubbs replied directly: “and u!! You’re just as stupid!”

Most of the tennis community was silenced immediately, but the fact that it surfaced at all within hours of a young player leaving a Grand Slam court in tears said plenty about how much the sport still needs to clean up.

Slipping injuries have been a common phenomenon

Other players who faced a severe knee injury at this year’s French Open include Turkish player Zeynep Somnez. She lost her first round in the singles category to Daria Kasatkina in straight sets, but had entered the second round bout in the doubles category along with her partner Tatjana Maria.

Just in the third game of the match against the Ukrainian duo, Dayana Yastremska and Anhelina Kalinina, Somnez tripped over an advertising board. The fall required two stitches and started a debate about whether those advertising hoardings should have been there in the first place. British No. 1, Katie Boulter, also pitched in as she fell on the court due to those boards.

“These things have to go,” Boulter said.

The repeated instances of players getting injured and the complaints prompted the French Open Federation to find a solution, and they later pushed the boards on the tarpaulin, which goes all the way back to the wall.

That tarpaulin also created chaos at the start of the tournament. Alexander Blockx, Belgian No. 1, had to withdraw from the French Open even without stepping onto the court. He tripped on the tarpaulin in a practice session at the Jean-Bouin club, which severely injured his right ankle, forcing him to withdraw.

Baptiste’s injury did not occur in the manner of others. It was a genuine imbalance of body weight, which can happen to anyone while playing on the clay. The surgery is done now. She is expected to miss at least six months on tour, likely to miss the rest of the grass season and the US Open hard-court swing that had been building up as the next major opportunity. It will be a long way back.

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