PARIS — A day after Novak Djokovic’s beautiful loss to Joao Fonseca and two days after Jannik Sinner’s nonetheless beautiful upset of Juan Manuel Cerundro, defending champion Coco Gauff misplaced within the third spherical at Roland Garros inexplicably to Anastasia Potapova in three units, 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4.
A sun-soaked crowd at Philippe Chatrier on Saturday afternoon watched Gauff, the event’s fourth seed, come again from an early deficit within the first and second units. Nonetheless, in the long run, he didn’t cross the end line in 2 hours and 37 minutes. When the match ended with a forehand winner, the twenty eighth seed Potapova fell flat on her again to the bottom.
After congratulating her opponent on-line, a shocked Gauff left the court docket virtually instantly. This was her earliest event loss since her primary draw debut in 2020. Potapova mentioned the win was “positively” one of many “prime three” of her profession, and it will be her second last-16 at a serious.
This yr’s Roland Garros has produced numerous shock winners, newcomers and shocking outcomes. After the primary week of the primary draw, the 2026 French Open is shaping as much as be the wildest and most unpredictable Grand Slam in current reminiscence. Within the fourth spherical, solely 3 out of the highest 10 boys and 4 out of the highest 10 ladies stay within the draw. That is the bottom variety of top-seeded males within the second week of a serious for the reason that 2002 U.S. Open, and the bottom variety of top-seeded males at Roland Garros since 2022.
That is additionally the smallest group of prime 10 female and male gamers to compete within the fourth spherical of a serious event since Wimbledon in 2022.
And whereas a few of the prime girls’s gamers stay, together with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 3 Iga Swiatek, who has received 4 French Opens, there will definitely be first-time winners on the lads’s facet as effectively. The event hasn’t had a first-time males’s main winner since Rafael Nadal in 2005.
“It is a very open event,” mentioned Casper Ruud, a two-time finalist within the occasion, after his third-round win. “I believe it is refreshing for everybody to see a brand new main championship champion in a few week. I believe all of the gamers understand that.”
Along with two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz, 24-time main champion Djokovic and Sinner, who entered the event with extra momentum than anybody else and was the overwhelming favourite to win the lads’s crew within the absence of Gauff, a confirmed winner on purple clay, different main champions similar to Daniil Medvedev and Elena Rybakina are additionally gone, as are main event finalists Taylor Fritz and Jessica. Pegula. Medvedev, Fritz, and Pegula had been all stuffed within the first spherical.
Earlier than Gauff and Potapova took to the court docket on Saturday, the French crowd watched as compatriot Diane Parry defeated sixth-seeded Amanda Anisimova, a former French Open semifinalist and two-time event runner-up, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3) in a third-set tiebreak.
Anisimova, who missed all lead-in clay court docket occasions with a wrist harm, mentioned she was not in her greatest well being and was unable to coach on Friday because of this.
Nonetheless, Parry nonetheless earned a ticket to the second week of the majors for the primary time. And now she has an opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals towards Maja Chwalinska – qualifying for less than the third main event of her profession.
“Usually we count on to play ladies who’re in all probability within the prime 20 within the event, so I believe this can be a nice alternative for each of us,” Parry mentioned after organising a fourth-round matchup.
By the tip of the day Saturday, No. 9 seed Victoria Mboko had additionally misplaced in three units to No. 19 seed and 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
Within the males’s bracket, solely Alexander Zverev in second place, Félix Auger-Aliassime in fourth place and Flavio Coboli in tenth place stay within the prime 10. On the ladies’s facet, along with Sabalenka and Swiatek, seventh place Elina Svitolina and eighth place Mila Andreeva stay till the tip.
Koboli, who defeated No. 19 Lerner Tien on Saturday, will face world No. 85 Zachary Sweida, who will likely be taking part in in his first primary draw at Roland Garros. Coboli mentioned he’s making an attempt to concentrate on one sport at a time.
“It isn’t going to be simple, as a result of it appears to be like like a draw is for certain,” Koboli instructed reporters. “I’ll watch each sport. I’ve plenty of time to look at different video games and it isn’t simple to remain one sport at a time, however I strive to do this. For now, the one factor I do know is that I received three video games and I’ve to play the fourth one. So for now I wish to take into consideration this.”
Now, who will win the title?
There are 4 remaining feminine athletes who’ve introduced nice glory prior to now: Sabalenka, Swiatek, Keys, and Naomi Osaka. Three others – Svitolina, Andreeva and Belinda Bencic – superior to the semi-finals of the competitors. Will any of the skilled gamers be capable of step up when it issues most? Or will gamers like No. 15 seed Marta Kostyuk, who’s on a 15-game profitable streak, proceed to do effectively? Or can gamers like Potapova and Parry play spoiler once more? Sabalenka, Swiatek and Andreeva are the favorites to win, in response to DraftKings, but it surely may very well be a title that may very well be received by anybody.
Nonetheless, whereas there have been many surprising girls’s champions lately, the lads’s championship has remained pretty constant over the previous 20 years. Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer have received a mixed 66 main titles between 2003 and 2023, whereas Alcaraz and Sinner have received each main title mixed for the reason that starting of 2024. Medvedev turned the final man outdoors of that group to win a Grand Slam trophy on the 2021 US Open. However subsequent week, one other individual will – lastly – be a part of that checklist.
Talking to reporters after Saturday’s win, Keys mentioned she was excited to see the lads’s bracket “very open” and in contrast it to many ladies’s brackets prior to now.
“I believe it should be attention-grabbing,” she mentioned. “Actually, it should come right down to who can deal with the second and who can play their greatest tennis below extra strain. I believe it is in all probability a bit bit completely different on the lads’s facet as a result of we have had a protracted interval of ‘I believe solely these 4 are going to win.’ So having a bunch of people that may actually win has no less than made the game extra attention-grabbing.”
However she added that she generally will get too caught up in who’s faraway from her quarter within the draw throughout tournaments. “Then, it is like, effectively, I’ve to go to quarters,” she joked.
Zverev, who has appeared in three main finals, together with the 2024 French Open, is the robust betting favourite heading into the fourth spherical, adopted by Ruud. After which issues get attention-grabbing. Cobolli has the fourth-best odds and has two impossible names surrounding him. Rafael Jodal and Fonseca, two promising 19-year-olds thought of future superstars however who’ve by no means performed within the second week of the event, have odds of third and fifth respectively. Many within the tennis group anticipated each gamers to be future main champions, however few predicted they might obtain this feat in 2026. However with every victory in Paris, particularly after Fonseca’s win over Djokovic, they’ve solidified their place among the many front-runners.
Nonetheless, Fonseca may barely give it some thought Friday and did not appear to think about himself a title contender.
“For now, I am simply having fun with the second,” Fonseca mentioned. “I believe simply 10 minutes after the sport I type of understood what I did, what I achieved, how troublesome it was and the way nice it was for me. Yeah, I am solely into the fourth spherical.
“After all, if Jannik and Djokovic are out, there will likely be extra alternatives for gamers who’ve spent extra time on tour, similar to Sasha (Zverev) and Kasper.”
