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Yuliia Starodubtseva stunned reigning Australian Open champion and second seed Elena Rybakina in three gruelling sets [3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4)]to enter the women's singles third round of the French Open 2026 on Wednesday. The 26-year-old Ukrainian, who now resides in the United States of America, lost the opening set in 37 minutes, but made a stirring comeback to beat one of the tournament favourites in two hours and 30 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen. The win made her the first woman in the Open Era to claim a third-set tiebreak against a top-five seed in Paris. Rybakina, the Russian-born Kazakh, committed as many as 71 unforced errors, including the decisive forehand in the 14th point of the third set. World No. 55 Starodubtseva will next face Chinese qualifier Xiy Wang for a place in the third round. See the best photos from the Yuliia Starodubtseva vs Elena Rybakina Grand Slam tennis match.

BY Photo Webdesk 28 May 2026

After surviving a major scare in her tournament opener, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina cantered to a 6-0, 6-4 win over Spanish qualifier Kaitlin Quevedo at the French Open 2026. The seventh seed, who now resides in Switzerland, converted five of seven break points and won the match on her second match on Court Philippe Chatrier on Wednesday. The 31-year-old will next face Germany's Tamara Korpatsch, who knocked out China's Xin Wang (6-2, 2-6, 6-3). Svitolina has reached the quarter-finals five times ​at the clay-court Grand Slam, and could meet Swiss Belinda Bencic in the last 16. See the best photos from the Elina Svitolina vs Kaitlin Quevedo tennis match.

BY Photo Webdesk 28 May 2026

Switzerland's Belinda Bencic registered a dominant straight-set (6-4, 6-0) win over American Caty McNally in the women's singles second round of the French Open 2026 on Wednesday (May 27). The 29-year-old from Flawil, seeded 11th, converted six of seven break points to dispatch the 63rd-ranked in 84 minutes. A former Olympic gold medallist (Tokyo 2020 Games, in 2021) is competing at Roland Garros after missing the previous editions. Now a mother, Bencic is targeting her deepest run in the clay-court Grand Slam, having suffered third-round defeats in 2019 and 2022. Up next, she will face another unseeded American, Peyton Stearns, for a place in the third round, for a possible clash with seventh seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

BY Photo Webdesk 28 May 2026

Four-time champion and third seed Iga Swiatek successfully navigated her way into the women's singles third round of the French Open 2026 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Sara Bejlek on Court Philippe Chatrier, Wednesday. In a tricky clay-court duel against the World No. 35 from Czechia, the six-time Grand Slam winner committed as many as 38 unforced errors and six double faults, but still managed to wrap up the match in one hour and 34 minutes. The 24-year-old will next face Polish compatriot and World No. 38 Magda Linette, who defeated higher-ranked Jeļena Ostapenko of Latvia in three sets (6-2, 2-6, 6-2) on Friday. Swiatek won the Roland Garros showpiece in 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Last year, she lost to top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final. The new 'Queen of Clay' has recently teamed up with Rafael Nadal's former coach, Francisco Roig. See the best photos from the Iga Swiatek Vs Sara Bejlek tennis match.

BY Photo Webdesk 28 May 2026

Crystal Palace didn’t want to be in the third-tier Conference League and Jean-Philippe Mateta nearly left the club. On Wednesday, it was Mateta’s goal that won Palace the title. A season which began with pleas to play in a higher competition ended with Palace’s first-ever European trophy as Mateta’s goal lifted his team to a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano in the final. The French forward, who was close to leaving in January before a transfer collapsed, scored on a rebound in the 51st minute after Rayo goalkeeper Augusto Batalla parried Adam Wharton’s long-range shot. Along with giving outgoing coach Oliver Glasner the perfect send-off, Palace’s win, which came in its first season playing in Europe, keeps English teams on track for a sweep of the three main European men’s club competitions.

BY Photo Webdesk 28 May 2026

In the night session, second-seeded Alexander Zverev beat Tomas Machac 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. The German dominated Machac in straight sets in one hour and 48 minutes to continue his fine start at Roland Garros. Such was German's authority in the game that he served up 19 aces. Beat that! Zverev is into the third round at Roland Garros, and will face Frenchman Quentin Halys. With this victory, the German star has also raced to a 40-10 win-loss record at Roland Garros. Interestingly, he is a one-time finalist and three-time quarter-finalist at French Open. Overall at Grand Slams, Zverev boasts a 120-40 win-loss record.

BY Photo Webdesk 28 May 2026

Novak Djokovic placed ice packs around his neck and on top of his head during changeovers to keep cool amid the Paris heat wave at the French Open on Wednesday. The 39-year-old Djokovic was pushed by 74th-ranked French player Valentin Royer — who is 15 years younger than him — for more than 3½ hours before he reached the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-3 victory. For the fourth straight day of this year’s tournament, the temperature rose above 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit). When Djokovic won a key point early in the fourth set with a forehand that he whipped around the net post from far off the court, the 24-time Grand Slam champion waved his arms toward the crowd inside Court Philippe-Chatrier. Djokovic wasted a chance to close the match out earlier when he missed a backhand long in the third-set tiebreaker then required four more match points in his final service game before a forehand from Royer landed in the net to conclude a long rally.

BY Photo Webdesk 28 May 2026

Rajasthan Royals (RR) crushed SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 47 runs in their Indian Premier League 2026 Eliminator clash in Mullanpur on Wednesday (May 27). Rajasthan Royals will take on Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 at the same venue on Friday. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit 97 off 29 balls to power RR to a massive 243 for eight. In reply, SRH folded for 196 in 19.2 overs. Jofra Archer was the pick among the bowlers for RR, returning 3/58. Ishan Kishan made 33 to give a brisk start before a collapse. Nitish Kumar Reddy scored 38 and Salil Arora made 35 in SRH’s reply.

BY Photo Webdesk 27 May 2026

Find today's news in pics from India and around the world for May 27, 2026

BY Photo Webdesk 27 May 2026

Dutch great Jonas Vingegaard destroyed the field to win stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia 2026 on Tuesday (May 26). The three-time Tour de France winner took two hours, 57 minutes and 40 seconds to cover a distance of 113km from Bellinzona to Cari in the Swiss Alps. His closest title contender, Austria's Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM), took an extra one minute and nine seconds. The stage win, his fourth, helped Vinge increase his overall lead in the general classification. With five stages to go, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider from Hillerslev has a time of 62h 10' 26", and is ahead of Gall (+1min 9secs) and Australia's Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), who's further behind by one minute and 11 seconds. The riders had a rest day on Monday, the last of the tour. The first Grand Tour of the year will conclude on May 31, a Rome-to-Rome flat race. Briton Simon Yates (Visma–Lease a Bike) won the 2025 edition.

BY Photo Webdesk 27 May 2026