Elena Rybakina lost to Yuliia Starodubtseva, 6-3, 1-6, 6-7, in the second round of the French Open.
The Kazakh was one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Paris, but fell in three sets against the world number 55.
During the match, Rybakina’s coach, Stefano Vukov, was seen leaving her box.
Will Elena Rybakina win another Grand Slam this year? 💭
Unsurprisingly, Rybakina was asked about his departure in her press conference.
Elena Rybakina insists Stefano Vukov left her coaching box due to illness
Rybakina wasn’t happy with the question, but provided a clear explanation.
“Why am I not surprised these questions are coming from you?” she said.
“He was in the match, and he left because he was feeling really bad for the past few days.
“He told me that he might leave, but he’ll try to stay.
“But he was not feeling great, and it was not a surprise; we talked about it, so nothing from that side.”
The world number two continued, sharing what the rest of her coaching team was telling her during the match.
“They were just trying to tell me to raise my energy, to push more with my legs, since the ball is flying so much,” said Rybakina.
“Even on the simple balls which you feel are not coming so fast, the ball bounces so high that you need to really force the wrist, play with fast hands, and today, it was not enough from my side.
Elena Rybakina vs Yuliia Starodubtseva – Match stats
| Stats | Elena Rybakina | Yuliia Starodubtseva |
| Aces | 4 | 1 |
| Double faults | 4 | 4 |
| 1st Serve % | 53% | 62% |
| Win % on 1st Serve | 67% | 69% |
| Win % on 2nd Serve | 43% | 62% |
| Break points | 4/8 | 5/11 |
“Even when I was not really attacking the ball, I was trying to keep it in play, I had too many mistakes.”
Rybakina was disappointed with her performance, becoming the 12th seed to lose at the 2026 French Open.
French Open women’s singles – Seeded exits
- [2] Elena Rybakina – Lost in 2R to Yuliia Starodubtseva
- [5] Jessica Pegula – Lost in 1R to Kimberly Birrell
- [12] Linda Noskova – Lost in 1R to Maria Sakkari
- [13] Jasmine Paolini – Lost in 2R to Solana Sierra
- [14] Ekaterina Alexandrova – Lost in 1R to Camila Osorio
- [20] Liudmila Samsonova – Lost in 1R to Jil Teichmann
- [21] Clara Tauson – Lost in 1R to Daria Snigur
- [24] Leylah Fernandez – Lost in 1R to Alycia Parks
- [26] Hailey Baptiste – Lost in 2R to Wang Xiyu
- [29] Jelena Ostapenko – Lost in 2R to Magda Linette
- [31] Cristina Bucsa – Lost in 1R to Susan Bandecchi
- [32] Wang Xinyu – Lost in 2R to Tamara Korpatsch
“It’s a pity because I think I was practising well before the French Open, and I was feeling good in practice and thought I could raise the level, but actually today was a very bad performance,” she said.
“Too many unforced errors, and didn’t feel the greatest, so was trying to find a way, but it clearly didn’t work.
Rybakina made 73 unforced errors during her second-round defeat, playing nowhere near her best…
Elena Rybakina now has golden opportunity to win Wimbledon following French Open exit
The good news for Rybakina is that the clay season is over.
And even on her weakest surface, she won a title (Stuttgart) and picked up five wins across the two WTA 1000 events.
She can now look ahead to the grass-court season and the tournament where she won her maiden Grand Slam title four years ago.
Rybakina broke through to win Wimbledon in 2022, but hasn’t returned to the final since, losing in the 2023 quarter-finals, the 2024 semi-finals, and the third round a year ago.
This year, Rybakina will have longer to prepare for the grass-court season than most other title contenders.
Those extra couple of days could prove vital, as she adjusts to the surface that suits her game so well.
Rybakina has already won a Grand Slam this year, emerging victorious in Australia, and will be keen to double her tally when she returns to SW19.
Before then, Rybakina will attend the Berlin Open warm-up event.
The 2026 Berlin Open begins on Monday, June 15, two weeks before Wimbledon starts.
