The biggest story heading into the second week of the 2026 French Open is not who is left in the second major of the year. It is who is out. Joining Jannik Sinner of Italy and Jessica Pegula of the United States are five more top five seeds. Let’s take a look at five more upsets at Roland Garros.
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Novak Djokovic
As the number three seed, there was a lot of belief that this was Novak Djokovic’s best chance of winning a 25th major with Sinner eliminated and Carlos Alcaraz out with his wrist injury. However, Djokovic, the three-time French Open champion from Serbia, lost in round three by a score of 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 to Joao Fonseca of Brazil. It was the second straight five-set win for Fonseca. In the second round, Fonseca defeated Dino Prizmic of Croatia, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2. On Sunday, Fonseca qualified for the quarterfinals as he beat Norway’s Casper Ruud, 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-5.
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Ben Shelton
On the same day Sinner was knocked out, American Ben Shelton, the fifth seed, was also eliminated from the second round of the French Open. Shelton lost 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in straight sets to Belgium’s Raphael Collignon. The loss was surprising when you consider the fact that Shelton won the BMW Open in Munich during the clay court season.
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Elena Rybakina
Heading into the French Open, Elena Rybakina was a contender because she won the Australian Open in January. However, her time at the French Open was short. Despite being seeded second, Rybakina lost 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 to Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine in the second round.
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Coco Gauff
The defending French Open champion did not reach the second week either as she was eliminated by a score of 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the third round by Anastasia Potapova of Austria. Potapova completely dominated the second set tiebreak as she won by a score of 7-1. Gauff was the fourth seed, but only won 39% of the points on her second serve.
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Iga Swiatek
In Sunday’s shocking upset, Poland’s Iga Swiatek, the number three seed, and four-time French Open champion, lost 7-5, 6-1 to Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, in the fourth round. A Ukrainian is guaranteed to play in the semifinals, as Kostyuk will play Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals.
