Top seeds have been falling left, right and centre this year at Roland Garros. On Friday, third seed Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion was knocked out by 28th seed João Fonseca. Eighth seed Alex De Minaur fell to 26th seed Jakub Mensik.
In the women’s draw, 10th seed Karolina Muchova’s tournament also ended at the hands of world No 170 Jil Teichmann. And on Sunday, in the fourth round, four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek, the No 3 seed, was taken out in straight sets by arguably the most in-form player on clay right now, 15th seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
Saturday was also eventful. Read on to find out what went down.
Coco Gauff
Gauff, the defending champion, was unable to get over the line against Anastasia Potapova who recovered from a set down to seal a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory. Potapova has been in great form this clay-court season, and would have taken confidence from the head-to-head – 2-2, with the Austrian winning the two most recent encounters. The American world No 4 had her moments in this latest clash and broke serve first in the deciding set but did not take advantage. Until this defeat 22-year-old Gauff had reached the quarter-finals or better at Roland Garros for five consecutive years. This third-round defeat was her earliest exit in Paris since her second-round showing on debut in 2020 which is quite remarkable.
Victoria Mboko
Mboko, who came through in three sets against Katerina Siniakova in the second round, found herself in another three-set tussle with 19th seed Madison Keys in round three. The Canadian No 9 seed, who was making only her second French Open appearance, put up a good fight against the 2025 Australian Open champion who came out on top 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. As the score suggests, there was very little between them and the match could have gone either way but experience won through in the end. The 19-year-old Canadian, playing her first full season on the WTA Tour, heads to the grass where there will be even more focus, especially on the doubles court at Queen’s.
Moïse Kouame
Kouame wowed the crowd on Court Suzanne-Lenglen with another enthralling performance against Alejandro Tabilo on Saturday. The 17-year-old French wildcard, who came through a dramatic five-setter in round two, showed how much game he already possesses. Against Tabilo, a player 11 years his senior, Kouame took the first set before going down in four – 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. The teenager’s ranking coming into Roland Garros was 318. He is up over 100 spots in the live rankings (214) following his exploits on his Grand Slam debut. Kouame will continue to develop on the Challenger circuit, the level just below the main ATP Tour. But if Kouame’s achievements in Paris are anything to go by, he looks destined for the very top, sooner rather than later.