On Thursday, the world No. 1 and favorite to win Roland Garros saw a commanding position evaporate and a potential title bid end in dramatic fashion. Jannik Sinner led Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-2, 4-1 and even reached match points, but a sudden physical issue changed the match.

Commentary during the match captured the moment’s gravity. “He knows the end is near,” Brian Anderson said. “He’s managing the pain; he’s in tennis’s version of hospice,” Anderson’s booth-mate, Jim Courier, agreed. “He’s just kinda riding this thing to the end.”

Sinner halted play and lifted his lower right leg. “I just need a moment,” he said, according to Mary Jo Fernandez on the sideline. What followed was a rapid reversal. Serving for the match at 5-2, Sinner was broken at love after a double fault. Serving for the match again at 5-4, he began with a double fault and was broken at love. He dropped 15 straight points and watched momentum swing entirely to his opponent.

“I struggled, starting to feel very dizzy,” Sinner said. “Very low of energy. Tried to serve it out, but didn’t have a lot of energy.” He added that the problem began before the match: “Woke up this morning, didn’t feel very well and tried to keep the points very short.” He also said, “I felt this morning I didn’t sleep very well,” and, “This morning when I woke up, I was struggling a bit, but you know, this can happen. Usually in Grand Slams you have a couple of days where you don’t feel perfect. This was today.” He summarized the collapse: “I was hitting very clean, very good, and then I just kind of hit the wall, and that’s it.”

Cerundolo, the 56th-ranked Argentine, grew steadier as Sinner faded and completed one of the most unlikely Grand Slam comebacks, winning 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1. Sinner arrived at Paris after a remarkable spring: 31 straight victories and five Masters 1000 titles in 2026, including a clay sweep in Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome. He said he will need time to “process what went wrong here.” For now, the tournament continues without the top seed.

Seventeen-year-old Moise Kouame produced a dramatic comeback at his home major, surviving a five-set battle to reach the French Open third round. Kouame opened with a two-set lead over Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, then dropped the third and fourth sets before producing the decisive recovery on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Vallejo led the fifth set 5-2, but Kouame rallied with strong support from the crowd and closed out his first career five-set match 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (10-8). “When we started the tiebreak, I was just telling myself, ‘It’s a 10-point tiebreak,’” he recalled in an interview. “When I was 6-1, I was like, ‘Moise, even if you win this point, it’s not over! It’s not over!’ It was really difficult to accept. I’m very relieved.”

The victory made Kouame the youngest man to reach the third round of the French Open since a 16-year-old Michael Chang in 1988. He also became the youngest to reach this stage at any Grand Slam since Rafael Nadal at 2003 Wimbledon.

Kouame said he will focus on recovery ahead of his next match. “For now, what is in mind is recover as much as possible for the next round. Of course, I’m happy with what I did,” he said of the achievements.

The French teenager had struggled earlier in the season, dropping back-to-back openers on the ATP Challenger Tour, but found form at Roland Garros. A native of nearby Sarcelles and working with Richard Gasquet, Kouame has now recorded wins on two different show courts. He earlier defeated Marin Cilic on Court Simonne-Mathieu and followed with this win on Lenglen.

Asked about the possibility of playing on Philippe Chatrier, Kouame reflected on the significance of the week. “It would be huge. These two courts, I will remember them forever in my tennis career and life in general,” Kouame said. “If I get the chance to play Chatrier, it would be very good.”

Jannik Sinner arrived at Roland Garros as the form player on clay, but his run came to an abrupt end in the second round. He led Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-2, 5-1 before Cerundolo produced an extraordinary reversal, winning 18 of the final 20 games to complete the victory and halt Sinner’s 30-match winning streak.

Sinner had opened his tournament in a night session against Clement Tabur. Having won every clay event he entered this season, with trophies in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, he was the pre-tournament favorite. The absence of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz further strengthened his bid to complete a Career Grand Slam, but the match on Court Philippe Chatrier did not follow the expected script.

Sinner attempted to cool himself down in-between changeovers. He did not reach match point when he led the contest. As the temperature and momentum shifted, Cerundolo seized control and produced the biggest win of his career to date: a maiden Top 10 victory.

The upset also reshaped the men’s draw. Novak Djokovic remains the lone former major title holder left, after Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic and Daniil Medvedev were all eliminated in the first round. For Sinner, the defeat represents his earliest exit at a major since he lost in the second round here three years ago to Daniel Altmaier.

Cerundolo’s run from a deep deficit was decisive and emphatic. For Sinner, a campaign that had appeared destined to press toward a grand slam breakthrough instead ended far earlier than anticipated. The match will be recalled for the sudden swing in momentum and for Cerundolo’s composed play in the closing stages.