Slammed Shut

After Elena Rybakina's upset loss, a true Grand Slam is already off the table in 2026. Plus, Jannik Sinner's preferential scheduling.

PARIS, France — As I was writing this post—which centers on how Elena Rybakina’s loss today marked a dream deferred once again—the air went out of this sweltering tournament with a thud on Court 6.

Near the end of the first set of her second round match, Hailey Baptiste suffered a brutal-looking left leg injury. After she attempted to move to adjust the ball coming at her hitting the netcord, she landed badly. When Baptiste crumpled to the ground in agony, she did so right in front of her support box; her father, Quasim, was by his daughter’s side in seconds. Baptiste was ultimately taken off the court in a wheelchair.

It’s an absolute bummer any time a player gets badly injured, but it especially hurts to see it happen to Hailey Baptiste in the midst of her finding the best tennis of her career, having beaten top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid and won a great first round here against 2021 champ Barbora Krejcikova.

How to "Be Hailey Baptiste"

Those wins came along with all sorts of other positive indicators for Baptiste’s trajectory—a great coaching set-up and a new Nike deal—so this is an awful time for her season to come crashing down so suddenly.¹ It’s too early to know any prognosis, of course, but obviously everyone is wishing Hailey all the best for a smooth and speedy full recovery.

The main focus of this post for Bounces subscribers is on how Elena Rybakina’s upset loss Wednesday afternoon meant tennis romantics already know, after Day 4 of the French Open, that they again won’t be getting the ultimate tennis feat this year: a true Grand Slam.

A player sweeping all four singles majors in the same calendar year hasn’t happened since Steffi Graf in 1988 on the women’s side and Rod Laver in 1969 on the men’s side. But even by the standards of those decades-long droughts, this was a historically quick end to the hopes of the Australian Open champions making runs for history.

Elena Rybakina shakes hands with the chair umpire after losing to Yuliia Starodubtseva in a third set tiebreak on Wednesday. (Photo by Ben Rothenberg for Bounces)

There was also a delightful winner across the net from Rybakina in Yuliia Starodubtseva, and subscribers will get to know her, too.

Thanks to everyone who has continued signing up and upgrading Bounces subscriptions in remarkable numbers this week! After hitting the No. 1 spot for the second time ever on Tuesday, Bounces was back on top for just the third time on Wednesday. Are we in the middle of a French Open dynasty? Time will tell, but this is certainly a good time to sign up as the 15 percent French Open discount is still running for now!

Thanks for subscribing to Bounces! To read the full story on the quick evaporation of the Grand Slam dream, Starodubtseva beating Rybakina, and a look at matches to watch (early) Thursday—including the wild scheduling of Jannik Sinner—please subscribe to Bounces! -Ben