Yuliia Starodubtseva is set for a severe French Open test on day four, with Elena Rybakina expected to control the second-round match with her serve and first-strike tennis. Rybakina opened her campaign with a dominant straight-sets win, looked far more settled physically than earlier in the clay season, and has been described as the very best right now.
That makes the matchup a steep one for Starodubtseva, who reached the Charleston final at the start of the clay season and has had a career-best year, but has not yet shown she can consistently compete with the very best of the WTA Tour since that run. She is also defending third-round points at Roland Garros, so this is not just a difficult draw but one that carries ranking pressure as well.
Rybakina’s opening match underlined why she is being spoken of as arguably the best player of 2026. Her serve and first-strike tennis were massive weapons, and she won with enough comfort to lose only four games, the same number Starodubtseva conceded in her own opener. On paper, that kind of margin leaves little room for the Ukrainian to get a foothold unless Rybakina’s level drops sharply.
The bigger context is that Rybakina has been trending upward after looking less comfortable earlier in the clay season. If that improvement holds, she should be able to dictate points from the start and reach the third round. For Starodubtseva, the task is to turn a career-best season into a result that changes the conversation about where she belongs on the tour.
Day four also brings a packed slate of 16 matches, including Jil Teichmann against Magda Linette, Jelena Ostapenko’s attempt to build on her 6-4 6-4 opener against Ella Seidel, and an Alycia Parks-Viktorija Golubic matchup. Teichmann backed up her first-round upset of 20th seed Liudmila Samsonova by recalling the level that took her to the fourth round here in 2022, while Linette needed just under three hours to get past Tereza Valentová after winning only one match this clay season. Ostapenko, the former French Open champion, remains one of the most dangerous names in the draw.
For Starodubtseva, the formula is simple and unforgiving: survive Rybakina’s serve long enough to make the favorite work. The problem is that the Kazakh’s best tennis has looked clean, settled and heavy enough to end that plan early.
Yuliia Starodubtseva faces tough French Open test against Elena Rybakina
