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.

A wave of early upsets has rippled through Roland Garros recent days, with Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina and Jannik Sinner among those sent packing in the early rounds. Coco Gauff, however, avoided that fate and moved through the draw with another composed performance.

The 22-year-old American recorded a second-round, straight-sets victory over Egypt’s Mayar Sherif, prevailing 6-3, 6-2. Gauff controlled the key moments of the match and converted chances when they mattered, closing out the win without extending the contest to a third set.

Beyond advancement in the tournament, the match carried a milestone. The victory was Gauff’s 80th career win at Grand Slam events. At 22 years old she is the youngest woman to reach 80 Grand Slam wins since Maria Sharapova achieved that mark as a 20-year-old at the Australian Open in 2008. The comparison underlines both Gauff’s consistency at major events and the rapid accumulation of significant results at a relatively young age.

Gauff’s progression contrasts with the surprising exits around the grounds, highlighting her steadiness under pressure while several higher-ranked players fell earlier than expected. The 80th Grand Slam victory is a marker of sustained performance across multiple years at the sport’s biggest stages and will add another layer of expectation as Gauff continues through the Roland Garros draw.

© 2026 Robert Prange

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.”