Paris, 27 May 2026

Serbia's Novak Djokovic overcame a third-set stumble to defeat local wildcard Valentin Royer and reach the third round of the French Open on Wednesday, while Jil Teichmann headlined a landmark day for Swiss tennis.

The 39-year-old, chasing a record 25th Grand Slam singles title, won 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3 on Court Philippe-Chatrier to book his spot in the last 32 for the 21st time at Roland Garros.

Djokovic appeared in control after cruising through the opening two sets, but Royer, spurred by a vocal home crowd, raised his level dramatically in the third. The Frenchman saved multiple break points before edging a tense tie-break 9-7 to force a fourth set.

The top seed quickly reasserted his authority, breaking early in the fourth and closing out the match after three hours and 12 minutes. The victory keeps alive Djokovic's bid to surpass Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 major singles trophies.

Rybakina crashes out in heat

Earlier in the day, world number two Jelena Rybakina suffered a shock exit, falling to Ukraine's Julija Starodubzewa 6-3, 1-6, 6-7 (4-10). The Kazakh appeared physically hampered by the intense heat and racked up 71 unforced errors in a rollercoaster contest.

Swiss qualifier Jil Teichmann produced the comeback of the day, rallying from 3-5 down in the first set to defeat Poland's Magdalena Frech 7-5, 6-4. The left-hander saved three consecutive set points on her own serve before reeling off four straight games to snatch the opener.

Teichmann, ranked 170th in the world, carried that momentum into the second set and broke Frech at 5-3 to serve for the match. Despite a double fault and a forehand error at 30-30, she regrouped immediately and converted her second match point after one hour and 49 minutes.

Teichmann's mental comeback

The victory marks Teichmann's best result since returning from a seven-month break she took to address mental exhaustion. It is her second trip to the third round in Paris, matching her 2022 run to the round of 16.

Teichmann was not the only Swiss player celebrating. Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic also won their second-round matches on Wednesday, meaning three Swiss women have reached the third round at Roland Garros for the first time in the tournament's history.

Golubic advanced with a straight-sets win, while Bencic continued her solid form in what has been a resurgent clay-court season for the former top-10 player.

Historic day for Swiss tennis

Teichmann will next face either Czech world number 10 Karolina Muchova or Russia's Kamilla Rachimowa, who represents Uzbekistan, on Friday. The winner of that match will secure a place in the fourth round.

Djokovic's path to a potential 25th major remains challenging. He awaits the winner of the all-South American clash between Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Chile's Nicolas Jarry.

The day session also saw Ukrainian Marta Kostjuk advance, while compatriot and tournament favorite Elena Switolina prepared for her second-round match scheduled later in the evening.