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Abayomi Ademola
Unseeded Ukrainian player Yuliia Starodubtseva produced one of the biggest upsets of the French Open after defeating Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina in a dramatic second-round clash at Roland Garros on Wednesday. The world number 55 came back from a set down to secure a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10/4) victory and record the biggest win of her career.
“Honestly, it’s hard to describe, I’m super happy,” Starodubtseva said after beating a top-10 opponent for the first time in her career. “I’m very proud of myself for being able to do this today. It was a tough third set, but I did it in the end.”
Rybakina appeared to be in complete control early in the match after taking a 5-1 lead before comfortably taking the first set. However, the momentum changed dramatically in the second set as Starodubtseva won the first five games to force a decider. The Kazakh star fought back from a double-break deficit in the third set to level at 4-4, but Starodubtseva held her nerve in the decisive tie-break after Rybakina opened with a costly double fault.
“You can’t think it will be easy, even at 3-0 (in the third set), I thought maybe it wouldn’t be easy,” Starodubtseva said. The Ukrainian has now equaled her best Grand Slam streak and will next face Hailey Baptiste or Wang Xiyu for a place in the round of 16 at Roland Garros.
