I learned enough French from my ancient high school instructor who used to hum the classic show tune whose title is the first three words of this clickbait as he administered impossible difficult pop quizzes to know it means “Tell me why?” I suspect that’s the order of the day among the executives at what remains of TNT Sports who are looking at a schedule this week that will see the likes of Joao Fonseca, Jakob Mensik and Rafael Jodar–the 25th through 27th men’s seeds–headlining the men’s quarterfinals. As this is being composed, on the ladies’ side 25 seed Diana Shnaider is already a set up on perhaps one of the United States’ most recognizable names remaining, Madison Keys.
As Monsieur Seinfeld might exclaim, Qui sont ces gens ?
The short answer is they’re the survivors in a Grand Slam field that’s unfolded as in unlikely and unpredictable a manner as any in recent years. As YAHOO! Sports’ Kendall Baker shared in his newsletter this morning, here’s what happens to the names you might otherwise recognize:
Not a single French Open champion has made it to the second week at Roland Garros after Novak Djokovic, Iga Świątek and Coco Gauff all suffered upset losses over the weekend. For the first time since 2016, a new men’s and women’s champion will be crowned in the same year.
CBS SPORTS’ Robby Kalland reported on Friday how any chance at history was taken away by a spirited performance from the aforementioned Fonseca:
The 2026 French Open is guaranteed to be won by a first-time grand slam champion after 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic was ousted in a five-set thriller (4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5) by 19-year-old rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca on Court Philippe-Chartrier in the third round.
With so much early carnage in the men’s draw — starting with Carlos Alcaraz being unable to play due to a wrist injury and then top-seeded Jannik Sinner’s shocking second round loss — Djokovic seemed to have a clear path to a record-setting 25th major title. Instead, he joins the two other top men’s stars in watching the second week of this year’s French Open from home, with Fonseca ascending to star status with his performance in an instant classic.
Sinner’s upset was memoriaized earlier that day by FORBES’ Merlisa Lawrence Corbett:
Oddsmakers made Sinner such a heavy favorite to win the French Open that his trophy ceremony at Roland Garros seemed inevitable. Yet Sinner, the No. 1 ranked player and reigning Australian Open champion, joined several top seeds who were upset in the first two rounds. Juan Manuel Cerundolo, the younger brother of No. 25 seed Francisco Cerundolo, stunned Sinner 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1. Sinner led 6-3, 6-2, 5-1 before he wilted in the record heat at Roland Garros.
And as the weekend unfolded the distaff side weighed in with a few more shockers, including what THE ATHLETIC’s Ava Wallace hit send on yesterday:
Iga Świątek is out of the French Open, after Marta Kostyuk inflicted her earliest loss there since 2019. Świątek, a four-time French Open champion, struggled with her serve and shot selection against Kostyuk, against whom she had a 3-0 career record before Sunday. She served for a tight opening set, but twice gave up a break advantage, before the pressure on her serve bled into her baseline game and the second set turned into a very familiar spiral. Kostyuk took the match 7-5, 6-1, to record her 16th consecutive win on clay in 2026.
Not to mention what CNN’s
Defending champion Coco Gauff is out of Roland Garros after a stunning upset loss to Austria’s Anastasia Potapova in the third round. Potapoval, seeded 28th in the tournament, took down the fourth-seeded Gauff 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. It’s the worst result for Gauff at Roland Garros since her debut in 2020 and comes as she was trying to defend her victory in last year’s tournament.
It’s probably apropos that all of these heretofore obscure personalities are thriving during the least-viewed Grand Slam tournament and the only way not a part of ESPN’s multiplatform blanketing. It’s the harder-core and more dedicated fans that will actively seek out either TNT or what remains of The Tennis Channel. And those that have are realizing that in order to knock off such stellar players these newbies are pretty darn good in their own rights.
Baker’s refresh as to what’s ahead seems as much apologetic as informative:
So, who’s left? No. 2 Alexander Zverev and No. 4 Félix Auger-Aliassime are the only top-10 seeds remaining on the men’s side; on the women’s side, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 16 Naomi Osaka and No. 19 Madison Keys represent the only former Grand Slam champions left in Paris.
It is the showdown between those first two women’s names that has Wallace anticipating what will transpire later today:
Naomi Osaka’s fashion statements have caused such a stir at the French Open that the Japanese star spends nearly as much time talking about her skirts as she does her tennis game these days. Not that she minds. When asked if she had a fresh look to debut, after sashaying out for her three matches thus far wearing three different iterations of designer jackets and skirts atop her sparkly gold Nike dress, Osaka grinned. “You guys keep asking, and I keep providing,” Osaka said in a news conference Saturday. “Why are we still asking?”
Good thing Osaka plans in advance. On Monday, she will face world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in her first career appearance in the fourth round of the French Open. The blockbuster bout will be the first women’s match featured in a night session at Roland Garros since 2023, and just the fifth overall since the French Open added them in 2021.
Via my addiction to white noise that these tournaments typically provide, I’m learning about Shanider, and catching up on just how the men’s field became what it did. It’s an education with an intensity along the lines of what I used to get in high school French class.
C’est la geurre, mes amis.
Courage…