The defeats of Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros will come as a shock to many.
Gauff, the defending champion in Paris, was defeated on Saturday by 28th-seeded Anastasia Potapova, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6.
Swiatek, a four-time Roland Garros champion, was beaten on Sunday afternoon by Madrid Open champion Marta Kostyuk.
How far can Marta Kostyuk go at Roland Garros? Is Iga Swiatek’s Roland Garros reign officially over?
Swiatek’s loss represented the first time that the Pole had failed to reach the Roland Garros quarter-finals since making her debut at the event in 2019.
Gauff and Swiatek’s impending absence – while surprising – has opened the door for the rest of the field to capitalise.
Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka has remained stoic, refusing to suffer the same fate as many of her biggest rivals on the WTA Tour.
Sabalenka is now the overwhelming favourite to win her first Roland Garros title following the defeats of Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka reached the final of last year’s event and looked set to win her first title after winning the first set against Coco Gauff.
Sabalenka’s hopes of lifting the title on Court Philippe Chatrier were quashed, with Gauff mounting a stirring comeback to claim the title.
This year, Sabalenka is seeking to go one better than her efforts from last year; and with many of her rivals now out of the picture, who is best placed to halt her Roland Garros aspirations for another year?
Can anyone realistically stop Aryna Sabalenka from going ‘all the way’ at Roland Garros this year? 🏆
Marta Kostyuk
Marta Kostyuk has been in incredible form on the clay over the past two months.
The Ukrainian is yet to lose a match on the surface this year, winning titles in Rouen and Madrid.
In fact, as reported by statisticians OptaAce, Kostyuk is the second player – since the WTA Rankings were published in 1975 – to win her first 16 clay court matches of the season while being ranked outside the top-10.
The only other player who has accomplished that feat is Justine Henin, who won 16 consecutive clay-court matches in 2005.
Kostyuk has also become only the third player from Ukraine to reach the Singles quarter-finals at Roland Garros in the Open Era after Andrei Medvedev and Elina Svitolina.
The Ukrainian, who will play Elina Svitolina in the third round, is now most certainly a major contender for the Roland Garros title.
Mirra Andreeva
Will Mirra Andreeva’s big breakthrough on the WTA Tour occur at the 2026 French Open?
Andreeva, who is still only 18 years old, has been threatening to break through at the Grand Slam level over the past two years.
The youngster has also demonstrated that she is particularly strong on the clay-court surface.
The Russian already has one Roland Garros semi-final appearance to her name, and has demonstrated good form throughout this year’s clay-court swing.
In Paris, Andreeva has already beaten Fiona Ferro, Marina Bassols Ribera, Marie Bouzkova and Jill Teichmann; losing only one set en route to the quarter-finals.
Mirra Andreeva’s 2026 clay-court campaign
- Stuttgart: lost in the semi-finals to Elena Rybakina
- Madrid: lost in the final to Marta Kostyuk
- Rome: lost in the quarter-finals to Coco Gauff
- Roland Garros: will play Sorana Cirstea in the quarter-finals
In her current form, Andreeva is certainly a major contender for the Roland Garros title.
The Russian will play Sorana Cirstea in the Roland Garros quarter-finals after the Romanian defeated Xinyu Wang on Sunday afternoon.
