The first week of the 2026 Roland Garros at Porte d’Auteuil will be remembered as one of the most volatile, unpredictable opening chapters in modern Grand Slam history. Between high-profile withdrawals before the tournament even commenced, historic losing streaks snapped, and a series of seismic upsets that decimated the top of the women’s draw, the red clay of Paris has provided non-stop drama.
As the 2026 Roland Garros crosses into its second week, the brackets look drastically different from what anyone predicted when play began on May 24. Let’s review the major storylines, shocks, and tactical takeaways from a wild opening seven days.
The Pre-Tournament Shocker and the Men’s Draw Vacuum
Even before a ball was struck, the men’s singles draw suffered a monumental blow. Two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz was forced to withdraw from the 2026 Roland Garros due to a lingering wrist injury, completely altering the competitive landscape. Without the dominant force of the young Spaniard, the bottom half of the draw cracked wide open, injecting an immediate sense of urgency and opportunism into the men’s field.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner wasted no time capitalizing on the shifting tectonic plates. Sinner opened his campaign with a clinical 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 demolition of Clement Tabur, marking his 30th consecutive match victory in an increasingly legendary season. Sinner’s baseline depth and suffocating pace made him look entirely untouchable on a surface that used to be his weakest. However, no one could have fathomed what was to come in his 2nd Round match against unseeded and 56th-ranked Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
2026 Roland Garros: Week 1 Tale of the Tape
| Men’s Draw Highlights | Women’s Draw Chaos |
| Jannik Sinner: Suffers a shocking 3-set defeat to unseeded Juan Manuel Cerundolo in 2nd Round | Marta Kostyuk: Upsets World No. 3 Iga Świątek (7-5, 6-1) |
| Daniil Medvedev: Upset by Adam Walton in Round 1 | Anastasia Potapova: Knocks out defending champ Coco Gauff |
| Matteo Berrettini: Wins gruelling 5-set epic vs. Comesana | Kimberly Birrell: Stuns No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula in 3 sets |
While Sinner crumbled in the heat, Daniil Medvedev’s historic complications with the Parisian dirt reared their head once again. Medvedev suffered another shocking opening-round exit, falling to Australia’s Adam Walton in a chaotic five-set thriller. Medvedev struck 54 winners but completely undermined his own efforts with 60 unforced errors, allowing Walton to stay patient and grind the dynamic Russian out of the 2026 Roland Garros tournament.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, Felix Auger-Aliassime survived an absolute maximum-effort scare against Daniel Altmaier, escaping with a dramatic fifth-set tiebreak win, while Italy’s Matteo Berrettini reminded everyone of his competitive grit by outlasting Francisco Comesana in a gruelling five-set epic (7-6, 5-7, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6).
Red Clay Anarchy: Top Seeds Fall in the Women’s Draw
If the men’s draw experienced structural shifts, the women’s singles draw experienced an absolute demolition derby. The first week of play saw the field lose three of the world’s absolute best clay-court players in spectacular fashion.
The tone was set early when Australia’s Kimberly Birrell pulled off a massive shocker against No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula. After losing the opening set heavily, Birrell recalibrated, executing fearless baseline counter-punching to secure a historic three-set victory.
But the real tremors struck during the third and fourth rounds. Defending champion Coco Gauff, who entered Paris with high expectations of retaining her crown, ran into a buzzsaw in the third round. World No. 28 Anastasia Potapova played the match of her life, tracking down Gauff’s heaviest baseline drives and weathering a tough second-set tiebreak to dethrone the champion 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.
Then came Sunday morning’s absolute stunner on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The Giant-Killer: Marta Kostyuk Stuns the Clay Queen
Marta Kostyuk [15] def. Iga Świątek [3] — 7-5, 6-1
Kostyuk played flawless, hyper-aggressive clay-court tennis, breaking Świątek six times. Świątek struggled immensely with her timing, hitting 5 double faults and winning just 45% of her first-serve points in a stunningly rapid second set.
With Świątek, Gauff, and Pegula all out of the equation before June even arrives, top seed Aryna Sabalenka stands as the overwhelming favourite. Sabalenka looked fiercely dominant in the first week, blasting through her section of the draw and capping off week one of the 2026 Roland Garros with a comprehensive 6-0, 7-5 win over Daria Kasatkina. Naomi Osaka also enjoyed an exceptional return to clay-court form, battling past tough opponents like Laura Siegemund and teen sensation Iva Jovic to book her spot deep into the second week.
Tech and Tributes: A Historic Backdrop
Beyond the match results, the 125th edition of the French Open introduced a historic logistical change. For the first time, Grand Slam organizers permitted players to wear and utilize connected biometric data devices, such as Whoop bands, during active play. This allows coaching staff unprecedented, real-time access to performance and physical strain data during gruelling five-set marathons. Notably, tournament organizers resisted the trend sweeping across other majors, firmly retaining human line judges rather than shifting to an automated electronic system.
The first week of the 2026 Roland Garros also paused to celebrate tennis heritage. On May 26, fans and officials gathered to honour the 70th anniversary of Althea Gibson’s historic 1956 French Championships triumph—the first Grand Slam singles title won by a woman of colour.
The 2026 Roland Garros also bid an emotional farewell to French icon Gael Monfils. Following his first-round defeat to Jesper De Jong on May 25, the Parisian crowd serenaded Monfils on Court Philippe-Chatrier, honouring a stellar career defined by showmanship and athletic brilliance.
Looking Ahead to Week 2
As the second week gets underway, the 2026 Roland Garros transitions from an endurance test to a high-stakes sprint. In the men’s field, all eyes remain on Jesper de Jong’s collision course with Alexander Zverev, while young guns like Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik look to prove they belong on tennis’s grandest stage.
In the women’s draw, the vacuum left by Świątek and Gauff has created a once-in-a-career opportunity for players like Marta Kostyuk, Anastasia Potapova, and Mirra Andreeva to make a run at a maiden Grand Slam title—provided they can find a way to halt the explosive momentum of Aryna Sabalenka. One thing is certain: if the second week of the 2026 Roland Garros matches the intensity and shock value of the first, tennis fans are in for a historic fortnight.
