A lottery! Roland Garros breaks a trend that has been in force for more than twenty years

It’s no secret to anyone that Roland Garros 2026 It is being a nest of surprises and a grave for an endless number of second swords who were waiting for their opportunity due to the loss due to injury of Carlos Alcaraz and the early eliminations of the world number 1 Jannik Sinnerand Novak Djokovictriple champion of the Parisian event and accumulator of 24 Grands.

The one from San Candido was already cherishing the victory in the Philippe Chatrier when he was a victim in the second round of an extreme physical decline due to the heat, a circumstance that the Argentine Juan Manuel Cerúndolo penalized, using his solidity from the back of the court. For his part, the Serbian suffered a tough comeback from the Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca after going two sets to zero (6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 5-7).

As if that were not enough, several possible candidates to sit on the throne of winners of grand slam They fell along the road unexpectedly. In the first round he fell Daniil Medvedev against the Australian Adam Walton in five rounds, a very surprising outcome despite the Russian’s well-known animosity for clay.

In the second round, the defeats of the Stefanos Tsitsipasfinalist in 2021, against the Italian Matteo Arnaldiin addition to the triumph of the Belgian Raphael Collignon against the top-5 Ben Shelton and that of the Argentine Francisco Comesaña against Luciano Darderi, number 17 in the world and in the best moment of his career. All of them added to the elimination of Sinner in view of Juan Manuel Cerúndolo.

In sixteenths, to the elimination of Djokovic in view of Fonseca was added the shocking victory of Zachary Zvajda about the Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo in the fifth episode. And in the second round, another of the favorites was left out of the equation. It was about Andrey Rublevwinner of 17 ATP titles, who succumbed in the fifth and final chapter against the Czech Jakub Mensikone of the revelations of French Open.

Likewise, the quarterfinals that have already begun have demolished a trend that had been in force for more than twenty years in the ATP, specifically since 2002, the last precedent in which in a grand slam Two top-10 or fewer reached the penultimate round of the competition. In that case, it occurred in the Australian Open and in Wimbledon. In Melbourne, only two players from the list of the top ten in the ranking reached this stage: Tommy Haas (15 ATP titles) and Marat Safin (double Grand Slam champion).

There were also two in the All England Clubstepping on the quarters only Lleyton Hewitt, who arrived as the first racket on the circuit, and the British Tim Henman, which placed him in fourth place in the world (his best record) once the tournament was over.