French Open in Paris
Four-time tournament winner surprisingly fails in the round of 16
May 31, 2026 – 1:15 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The death of favorites at the French Open continues on Sunday. This time it was a four-time tournament winner.
The next big name is out: four-time tournament winner Iga Świątek failed in the round of 16 of the French Open. The Pole lost surprisingly clearly on Sunday with 5:7, 1:6 against the number 15 seeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. The last time Świątek was eliminated so early was seven years ago, but since 2020 she has always reached at least the quarter-finals in Paris.
After three triumphs in a row, Świątek failed in the semi-finals in 2025 against world number one Aryna Sabalenka. This year the Pole really wanted to get back on the throne in Paris and worked in advance with the clay court king Rafael Nadal. But after 1:39 hours of play, Kostyuk converted her first match point – and then shed tears of joy.
“I’m still shocked. To beat a player like that who has won here four times. I can’t believe it,” said the convincing Kostjuk. Before the French Open, she had already won the tournaments in Rouen and Madrid, and by reaching the quarter-finals of Roland Garros for the first time, she celebrated her 15th victory in a row on clay. After the success against Świątek, she will now face her Ukrainian compatriot Elina Switolina or Belinda Bencic from Switzerland in the round of the last eight participants.
As with the men, the failures of the favorites also continued with the women. On Saturday, defending champion Coco Gauff was eliminated in the third round against Anastasia Potapova from Austria.
