Raphael Collignon knocks out fifth seed at Roland Garros and advances to third round. Raphael Collignon secured his first victory over a top-5 player by defeating Ben Shelton at Roland Garros. The tournament continues to surprise with the early exit of favorites and new names reaching the third round.
On Thursday at Roland Garros, the tournament saw one of its biggest upsets: Belgian Raphael Collignon confidently defeated the fifth seed Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. For Collignon, this was his first victory over a top-5 ranked opponent and his second career appearance in the third round of a Grand Slam. His aggressive play and minimal errors allowed him to control the match and capitalize on all his break point opportunities.
Ranked 62nd in the PIF ATP rankings, Collignon arrived at the tournament in good form: in May, he reached the final of a major Challenger event in Bordeaux, losing only to Juan Manuel Cerundolo. This season, the Belgian has already won 27 matches with just eight losses, underscoring his consistency at all competition levels.
Collignon’s next opponent will be Italian Matteo Arnaldi, who earlier eliminated the 2021 Roland Garros finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas. As a result, the top section of the draw has lost several favorites: on the same day, tournament No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner was defeated in five sets, while Frances Tiafoe, now the highest-ranked player in this quarter, narrowly avoided a loss to former world No. 6 Hubert Hurkacz, winning after almost five hours of play.
Among the top 10, only Felix Auger-Aliassime and Flavio Cobolli remain in the upper half of the draw. Auger-Aliassime defeated Argentine Roman Andres Burruchaga, while Cobolli was stronger than Wu Yibing. Another notable result was Matteo Berrettini’s victory over Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, and American Brandon Nakashima prevailed against Luca Van Assche in five sets.
The current Roland Garros draw has already become one of the most unpredictable in recent years: the early exits of several top players have opened the door for new names and created intrigue in the race to reach the final stages. Such surprises are not uncommon at this tournament — earlier, Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta also managed to get through two rounds after a long recovery, as highlighted in the piece about his return to top form.
Roland Garros is traditionally considered one of the most challenging tournaments for the favorites: the surface, weather conditions, and intense schedule often lead to unexpected results. In 2026, the tournament once again lives up to its reputation as a place where status and rankings do not guarantee success, and the battle for the title is wide open.
