favorites fell like grains on thursday night! Only two players from the top 5 are left in the competition
Article by Maria Olteanu – Published Friday, 29 May 2026, 07:45 / Updated Friday, 29 May 2026 07:46
After the biggest surprise of the tournament, eliminating world leader Jannik Sinner in the second round of Roland Garros, Thursday night brought new shocks. The Belgian Raphaël Collignon (24 years old, ranked 62nd in the world) also produced a completely unexpected result and qualified for the third round of the second Grand Slam of the year, after defeating the American Ben Shelton (23 years old, ranked 5th in the world) in the second round, in minimum sets, score 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
Ben Shelton, the tournament's fifth favorite, was eliminated in the second round after just two hours of play at the end of a game in which he had no chance. After his result, only two players from the world's top 5 remained in the competition for the third round, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic, in the context in which two were eliminated, and Carlos Alcaraz is absent due to medical problems.
In the next round, Collignon will play against Matteo Arnaldi (25 years old, 104th in the world), who in turn caused a surprise and got past Stefanos Tsitsipas (27 years old, 79th in the world) in four sets, score 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Ben Shelton, “swept” in three sets at Roland Garros
For Belgium's Raphaël Collignon, a single break in each set was enough to prevail and get tickets for the third round.
In the first set, the seventh game was decisive, while in the second, Collignon broke his opponent's serve in game 11. The Belgian confirmed the sensation with a break in the ninth game of the third set, after which he served to advance to the next stage.
Thus, the “slaughter” of the favorites in the upper part of the table continued. First, Daniil Medvedev left the tournament, then Alexander Bublik, for Thursday to bring more surprises in the French Open competition.
Also, also on Thursday, the young French tennis player Moise Kouame (17 years old, world number 318) wrote history at Roland Garros, after defeating the Paraguayan Adolfo Daniel Vallejo (22 years old, 71st in the world) in a spectacular match in the second round, after 5 hours of play, with the score of 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8).
