ATP Tour

Collignon stuns Shelton, continuing upset trend at Roland Garros

Raphael Collignon joined the growing list of upset winners Thursday at Roland Garros, where the Belgian downed fifth seed Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

The first Top-5 win of his career, Collignon produced ferocious hitting to reach the third round of a major for the second time. He struck 30 winners while committing just 13 unforced errors, adding another twist to a dramatic day that included top seed Jannik Sinner’s five-set defeat.

“I was very solid from the beginning to the end, very stable,” Collignon said. “I'm really happy about the way I played today. I was really into the match from beginning to end.

“I knew I had to be good on returns. So I had to focus on that. I know that when I focus, I serve well. That's where I'm best. I seized every opportunity, and I broke every time at the right time. If I hadn't been so calm and quiet, I wouldn't have been able to win the match.”

UPSET ALERT 🚨

Rapahel Collignon knocks out 5th seed Shelton 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/wh0h3GdXtY

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 28, 2026

Collignon entered the clay-court major in good form. The No. 62 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Collignon reached the final of this month's clay-court ATP Challenger 175 event in Bordeaux, only falling to Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who came back from two sets to love down to defeat Sinner on Thursday.

Collignon, 24, holds a 27-8 match record across all levels this season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

Up next for Collignon is Italian Matteo Arnaldi, who beat 2021 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Play began Thursday with World No. 1 Sinner and No. 5 Shelton headlining the top quarter of the draw, but after a chaotic day in Paris, World No. 22 Frances Tiafoe is the highest-ranked player in that top quarter. Fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and 10th seed Flavio Cobolli are the only Top-10 seeds remaining in the top half of the draw.

Tiafoe survived a scare of his own, overcoming former No. 6 Hubert Hurkacz 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-4 after four hours and 43 minutes. Hurkacz hammered 43 aces, according to Infosys Stats, but last year’s quarter-finalist Tiafoe weathered the barrage and earned a decisive break to love at 5-4 in the fifth set.

Auger-Aliassime fought off Argentine Roman Andres Burruchaga 4-6, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 and Cobolli ousted Wu Yibing 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Matteo Berrettini, a quarter-finalist in 2021, ousted home hope and 22nd seed Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. American Brandon Nakashima also earned a win against a Frenchman, defeating Luca Van Assche 6-7(5), 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.