French Open Roland Garros WTA Day Four Round-up | Rybakina stunned, Swiatek and Svitolina breeze through as Andreeva recovers one-set deficit

We are only on day four of Roland Garros, and already one of the massive title contenders is out. Elena Rybakina was nowhere near her best in a hugely damaging defeat against Yuliia Starodubtseva in a terrific day for Ukrainian tennis.

To add to that, both Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk were able to prevail in contrasting fashion while four-time champion Iga Swiatek showed her class on the Roland Garros stage once more.

First the big result of the day. Rybakina was a shadow of herself as she went on to lose 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) to an inspired Starodubtseva. The world number two racked up a whopping 71 unforced errors which ultimately cost her dearly.

The first set went the way of the Kazakh, although the danger signs were there from the end. Starodubtseva got one of the breaks back right at the end but could not retrieve the deficit. However, she came all-guns blazing in the second, storming into a 4-0 lead before having little trouble seeing it out.

She then went 4-2 ahead in the third but Rybakina fight back, winning three games on the spin as the Starodubtseva level slightly waned. Four comfortable holds led to a tiebreak, in which the Charleston Open finalist exceled in. She continued to benefit from a sloppy Rybakina showing as she sailed into a 6-3 lead before going 9-3 to the good, creating a handful of match points. The second one was taken and one of the outright title favourites departs in the biggest upset of this tournament so far.

It was a lot more simple for Svitolina who was hoping not to get dragged into another tight tie. The Rome Open champion dismantled Kaitlin Quevedo 6-0, 6-4. The bagel delivered in the first set was relatively routine. She did not face a single break point throughout. Quevedo would break back in the second set after Svitolina thought she had grabbed the initiative once more. After the Spaniard went 4-3 ahead, Svitolina slammed the door with a three-game spurt which moves her into the third round for the 11th consecutive year she has competed in the French Open.

For Kostyuk, she has only made it past this stage once back in 2021. She has added another third round appearance in Paris, but only just in a gruelling 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 win over Katie Volynets.

Twice Volynets broke in the first set and twice Kostyuk instantly responded. The tiebreak would go the American’s way, forcing the Ukrainian a tricky task of getting back into this match. She did so with style, going 5-1 ahead before breaking back to win the second set. She had to be more patient in the third, winning the final three games while avoiding a break point chance by her opponent right at the end.

No problems for Swiatek. While not at her imperious best at Roland Garros, she gave Sara Bejlek little chance in a 6-2, 6-3 win.

There were only two holds in the first set, both going the way of the Pole. Right after both of them, she would break before responding to the Czech breaking right back. She missed her first set point on her own serve before, at the fourth time of asking, getting over the line. The same three-break pattern occurred in the second set as Swiatek again benefited. Bejlek then got the set back on serve before the six-time Grand Slam champion broke to love enroute to winning eight points in a row to seal the win.

She has a tricky draw with Kostyuk a possible fourth round rival. It could have been her bogey player, Jelena Ostapenko, in round three. The 2017 champion has defeated Swiatek in all six clashes, but she will not have the chance to make it seven after surprisingly losing 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 to Magda Linette with an all-Pole clash on the horizon.

Another big favourite in the form of Andreeva was at one point looking like she could be on the end of a gigantic upset. Going a set down against the world number 175 Marina Basslos Ribera, she locked in and dropped just two games to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

On paper a routine win was anything but. Andreeva fell 4-2 behind before getting the match back on serve. This was only brief as Basslos Ribera unbelievably won the first set against the Madrid Open finalist and Linz champion. The Russian was not going to let an upset occur on her watch. She stormed into a 5-0 lead, unable to get the bagel done so had to settle for a 6-1 scoreline. The same thing occurred in the third set, finding herself 4-0 to the good before breaking right at the end with a first match point to sail through albeit stumbling over a minor scare.

Karolina Muchova has started the year brilliantly. Her opening round loss against Anastasia Potapova in Rome was the first defeat against someone ranked outside the top five in 2026. She showed her best tennis once more, defeating Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 6-2. After taking a 5-1 lead, the Uzbekistani nabbed one of the breaks back while surviving two set points. Muchova only had to wait one game more to get the job done. Breaks of serve were traded as Muchova kept a hold of her slender lead. She then held her serve to edge 5-2 ahead before getting the job done against the serve.

While one former runner-up breezes through, the same could not be said for 2024 finalist Jasmine Paolini whose struggles continue. She lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to Solana Sierra who is having a fine tournament at the expense of the Italian. It started well for Paolini, winning the first set 6-4 with a late break. That transitioned into the second where she went a break up. This time Sierra was able to get on top, winning the final four games to keep the contest going. She would take the initiative before snatching the advantage back from Paolini enroute to completing a huge win. While the Argentine celebrates, there are more questions surrounding Paolini.

In terms of the other results, there is just one Brit remaining in the tournament. Francesca Jones played two contrasting sets against Marie Bouzkova, losing 6-0,7-6(3) which leaves only Katie Boulter. A very good day for Swiss tennis on the contrary. The number 11 seed Belinda Bencic bageled Caty McNally in a 6-4, 6-0 win while Viktorija Golubic made it Switzerland 2-0 USA after taking down Alycia Parks 6-2, 6-2. The world number 170 Jil Teichmann continued the joys as she conjured up a surprise 7-5, 6-4 win against Magdalena Frech who missed three set points in the opening set, costing her dearly.

Sorana Cirstea battered Eva Lys 6-3, 6-0, coming from 3-1 down to win the last 11 games virtually unchallenged. The only American to win on day four was Peyton Stearns who delivered Ukraine a slight blow with Daria Snigur going down 6-4, 6-0. There was controversy between Tamara Korpatsch and the number 32 seed Xinyu Wang. The Chinese was the first seed to lose in round two in a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 loss. However, the main talking point came when the pair confronted each other at the net.

It was a happier ending for Xiyu Wang, but in concerning circumstances. Her opponent, Hailey Baptiste, took a nasty tumble before screaming out in pain while holding her right ankle. She retired on the spot before being forced to come off the court on a wheelchair.