Novak Djokovic kept his pursuit of a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title alive at Roland Garros on Wednesday, grinding out a four-set victory over Frenchman Valentin Royer, while women's second seed Elena Rybakina suffered one of the tournament's biggest upsets, falling to Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva.
Djokovic, the three-time Roland Garros champion currently ranked third in the world, was tested once again on Court Philippe Chatrier — the main show court in Paris — after already needing to recover from a set down in his opening match. Royer, ranked 74th in the world and raised just five kilometres from the stadium, pushed the 39-year-old Serb hard in a brilliant third-set tie-break to level the set count before Djokovic regained control to seal a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7/9), 6-3 victory in just under four hours. "I hope I won't play any more French players for the rest of the tournament," Djokovic said with a wry smile. The win extends his remarkable run to 21 consecutive appearances in the Roland Garros third round. He has been level with the all-time Grand Slam record of 24 titles, held jointly with Margaret Court, since winning the 2023 US Open.
On the women's side, Rybakina — who won the 2025 Australian Open and arrived in Paris as the second seed — blew a commanding 5-1 lead in the opening set before eventually losing 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10/4) to Starodubtseva, ranked 55th in the world. It marks the Kazakh player's earliest exit from a major since the 2024 Australian Open. "I couldn't find the balance. I couldn't find the right shot, and it was clearly just too many mistakes," Rybakina said. For Starodubtseva, it was a career milestone: her first victory over a top-10 opponent. "Honestly, hard to describe, I'm super happy," she said. "I'm super proud of myself."
Elsewhere, four-time Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek, the third seed from Poland, moved comfortably into the third round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Czech teenager Sara Bejlek, maintaining her unblemished record of always reaching the second week in Paris. Ukrainian seventh seed Elina Svitolina, fresh from winning the Rome title, also progressed with a dominant 6-0, 6-4 victory over Spain's Kaitlin Quevedo. Second seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, a finalist at Roland Garros in 2024, needed just an hour and 48 minutes to dispatch Czech player Tomáš Macháč 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, though Macháč's progress was hampered by a foot injury that required a medical time-out.
The day was also marked by extreme heat, with temperatures exceeding 30°C on exposed courts. Czech player Jakub Menšík collapsed with cramp immediately after completing a gruelling four-hour, 41-minute five-set victory and described the conditions as "insane," pointing to the limited rest time available during changeovers. Norwegian Casper Ruud, a two-time finalist at the tournament, also suffered from heatstroke but managed to advance in five sets. With Carlos Alcaraz absent from this year's draw, the tournament remains wide open — and Wednesday's results underlined just how unpredictable the fortnight in Paris could prove.