French Open rocked by 'awful' scenes as Kokkinakis and two others retire, World No.2 dumped out

It was another day of drama at the French Open on Wednesday as Thanasi Kokkinakis was one of three players to retire and World No.2 Elena Rybakina suffered a shock second-round loss. Kokkinakis was forced to call it quits at the start of the third set against Spanish veteran Pablo Carreno Busta.

The 30-year-old Aussie suffered a recurrence of a shoulder injury that has plagued him over the last few years, throwing his career into major doubt. "I'm doing some scans tomorrow, I'm trying to be optimistic,” he said in his post-match presser.

Kokkinakis showed his courage and bravery to level at 5-7 6-4 in 32 degree heat, but had to call the trainer and then retired hurt. “Just struggling with the same injury," Kokkinakis reported afterwards. "I could feel it getting worse. I kind of came into the match with a lot of doubts, because I wanted to go out there and give it a crack, but I knew it didn't feel right. It progressively got worse with the match."

The Aussie was one of three players to retire on Wednesday, with Valentin Vacherot withdrawing due to a left foot injury. And American Hailey Baptiste had to be taken from the court in a wheelchair after suffering a serious-looking ankle injury.

Baptiste cried out in pain after rolling her ankle, and laid at the back of the court in agony. ‘The Tennis Letter’ account wrote on social media: Awful scenes at Roland Garros. Life can be so cruel. Wishing Hailey a speedy recovery.”

Alex de Minaur’s third round opponent was also taken off on a wheelchair after winning a five-set epic. Jakub Mensik collapsed to the ground after beating Mariano Navone, and couldn’t get back to his feet because of cramp and exhaustion.

"It's insane to play in this weather, especially in front of the sun, to be there for more than four and a half hours, it's just insane," he said afterwards. It presents de Minaur with a golden opportunity against an ailing opponent.

World No.2 and Australian Open champ crashes out

Elsewhere, Rybakina became the biggest casualty of the tournament so far when she lost to Yuliia Starodubtseva in three sets. The World No.2 and Australian Open champ lost 6-3 1-6 6-7 (4-10) in a dramatic exit.

It is Rybakina's earliest exit from any tour-level tournament since the Miami Open last year and first defeat in the opening two rounds of a major since the 2024 Australian Open. "I couldn't find the balance. I couldn't find the right shot, and it was clearly just too many mistakes," said the Kazakh.

Fellow big guns Iga Swiatek, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev advanced relatively easily. It was Australia's first winless day of the tournament, with James Duckworth and Rinky Hijikata both losing.

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