Yuliia Starodubtseva stars in special day for Ukraine at French Open
Yuliia Starodubtseva equals the best result of her career by reaching the third round of the French Open for a second consecutive year.
She is the third player from Ukraine into the third round of the women’s singles draw at Roland Garros, following seventh seed and Italian Open champion Elina Svitolina and 15th seed and Madrid Open champion Marta Kostyuk.
“It’s hard to describe, I’m super happy,” Starodubtseva, 26, said in her on-court interview. “Elena is one of the top players. She has had an incredible year and I’m super proud of myself that I was able to do this today. It was a hard third set, but got it done.
“She’s again one of the top players, and you, you can’t be thinking that it’s going to be easy today. Even at 3-0 [in the third set], I had a feeling it might not be that easy. Tough match, but happy to be the winner today.”
Second seed Elena Rybakina crashes out in biggest upset of French Open
Elena Rybakina crashed out of the French Open as the second seed fell to a three-set defeat to Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva in the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
Rybakina, the Australian Open champion, looked on course for the third round when she won the opening set but Starodubtseva turned the match around in what became a lengthy battle in gruelingly hot conditions.
The world No 55 built on a one-sided second set to earn a double-break in the third, but Rybakina responded to force the deciding match tiebreak.
Starodubtseva, however, immediately took charge of the tiebreak to convincingly close out a 3-6 6-1 7-6 (10-4) victory, claiming the biggest win of her career and first top-10 victory.
Who’s next for Novak Djokovic at this year’s French Open?
Djokovic will play either Joao Fonseca, the 28th seed, or Dino Prizmic in the third round. Either way, he knows he will face a dangerous opponent – and one of the sport’s rising stars.
Prizmic won the first two sets but Fonesca has rallied to win the third. If Prizmic wins, it will be an immediate rematch of their second-round meeting in Rome, which was won by Prizmic in Djokovic’s first match of the clay-court season.
Djokovic speaks to the crowd in French: ‘That was a big challenge for me’
“Very happy and relieved to have got through, to have finished. Clearly the emotions are different when you win the match. Really, really important win for me. Difficult conditions for both of us, for both players. Really, really hot on the court. Valentin deserves a big round of applause for what he put out on the court.
“It’s a really, really hard, a big challenge for me. Credit to him.
“He found his best game in that third set when I was serving for the match, a couple of times. I thought I might win it, but in the end these are the kinds of games that provide the challenges.
“I hope I don’t play against any other French player until the end of the tournament. That’s enough for me! Goodness me, I played two matches and I feel like I’ve played for two weeks!”
GAME, SET AND MATCH! Djokovic battles on at French Open
That was an extraordinary final point, an extraordinary couple of hours really. Djokovic shows Royer a lot of respect at the net as they come together and shake hands. He knows the Frenchman has pushed him to three hours and 44 minutes. We all know that almost four hours on court, in these conditions, is far from ideal.
French Open: Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-2 6-7 6-3 Valentin Royer
GAME, SET AND MATCH! A 21st consecutive third round at the French Open for Novak Djokovic, who was pushed into an extra set and extra hour by a spirited Valentin Royer but prevails in four sets to keep his bid for a 25th grand slam title alive.
Djokovic will know he could have been off court a while ago, but credit to the Frenchman for digging in and saving match point in the third-set tiebreak. Djokovic has now won 31 matches in a row against French opponents.
From deuce, Djokovic found an ace down the middle. From there, he breaks Royer’s resistance on the fifth match point of the match, with Djokovic almost collapsing after the sheer effort of getting over the line!
Encroyable. Djokovic brings out the violin on match point.
French Open: *Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-2 6-7 5-3 Valentin Royer
Royer saves TWO MORE MATCH POINTS in a huge last stand from the Frenchman! He has Chatrier on its feet, begging for more, and gets a look at break point as Djokovic double-faults. Royer goes big on the forehand, and has a look, but he pushes long! What a battle this is!
Djokovic roars after the backhand down the line… a fourth match point, but Royer saves again! This time he does it with touch, controlling a big whack from Djokovic to guide a clever volley over the net. This is good stuff.
French Open: *Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-2 6-7 5-3 Valentin Royer
Credit to Royer for holding serve, aiming another big forehand down the barrel of Djokovic and coming out on top. Djokovic will serve for the third set.
Jakub Mensik leaves court in wheelchair after gruelling five-set French Open victory
Jakub Mensik was helped into a wheelchair after collapsing onto the court while suffering from cramps following his brutal victory over Mario Navone in a five-set epic at the French Open.
The 20-year-old Czech and 26th seed fell to his back after beating Navone 6-3 2-6 6-4 1-6 7-6 (13-11) in a fifth-set tiebreak, after four hours and 41 minutes in gruelingly hot conditions in Paris.
After struggling physically earlier in the match and requiring a medical timeout for cramp, Mensik was unable to meet Navone at the net following match point and the Argentinian walked round to shake hands while he was still lying on the clay.
