French Open Shock: Italian Qualifier Upsets Tsitsipas, Advances to Roland Garros Third Round

Italian wild card Matteo Gigante pulled off a big upset at the French Open on Wednesday by beating past finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his life.

This victory marked Gigante’s first win over a Top 20 player and is set to push Tsitsipas out of the Top 20 rankings for the first time since August 2018, following the update after the tournament.

Tsitsipas came into the match with an impressive 27-8 record at Roland Garros, having been runner-up four years ago and reaching the quarterfinals in both 2023 and 2024.

Despite having his vast clay-court background, three Monte-Carlo titles among them, Tsitsipas could not penetrate past the 23-year-old Italian, who is contesting his second Grand Slam main draw.

Gigante unnerved the Greek with his strong forehands and mixed backhand angles, and importantly held off all eight break points in the fourth set to seal the match. It was their first encounter on the ATP Tour, and Gigante was the winner.

Gigante's victory elevates him 37 places to No. 130 of the ATP Live Rankings and will play American Ben Shelton in the next round.

Tsitsipas falls to No. 25 in the live rankings and will drop out of the Top 20 for the first time in almost five years. The 26-year-old's recent form has shown a slump, having lost before the fourth round in seven of his last eight Grand Slam tournaments.

While he won the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai earlier this season, Tsitsipas is placed 17th on the current ATP Live Race to Turin standings.