Paris, May 31 (IANS). The round of upsets continues in the French Open 2026. France’s Diana Parry on Saturday defeated sixth seed Amanda Anisimova in a three-set match to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time. Before this year’s French Open, Parry had reached the third round of the Grand Slam five times, but was never able to make it to the last 16. Playing in front of a raucous Paris crowd at Court Philippe-Châtrier on Saturday, Perry defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 in a three-set match that lasted 2 hours and 44 minutes.
In the third set, both players saved their service games several times. After this, Parry broke Anisimova’s serve and took a lead of 4-3, but Anisimova immediately made a comeback and got the break. Even after this the match continued to be a draw and ultimately the result was decided by tiebreak. Parry played brilliantly in the tiebreak and won the match 10-3. Parry told reporters after her win, “I think I can win every match and go three sets. I was feeling good physically. I felt my game was troubling her to some extent, so I was trying to keep that in my mind so that I could win the match in the end.”
The win was only the second win against a top-10 ranked player in Perry’s career. With this, his losing streak of seven consecutive matches against top-10 players also ended. It was her eighth win in the main draw of the French Open, her best performance to date at any Grand Slam tournament. Perry, who is the last French player left in the women’s singles draw, has recently added a two-handed backhand shot to her game. She says she is still trying to get completely comfortable with this new shot and get used to it.
She added, “I started using the double-handed backhand again before the start of the season. Its use depends on my opponent’s serve, the court conditions and the player’s style. Here it is a bit difficult because the ball bounces quite high, so it is difficult to get the right distance. It also depends on how I am feeling that day. Every day is not the same, because it is not a fully established shot for me yet. I have to adapt to the player and the circumstances. You have to adapt yourself.”
Perry will now face Poland’s Maja Khwalinska, who had defeated former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari in another three-set match in the third round on Saturday. For Anisimova, this is her first third round defeat at a Grand Slam since the 2020 French Open. In 2020, she had to face defeat against Simona Halep. The American was playing her first clay-court tournament of the season after withdrawing from the Madrid and Rome tournaments due to a wrist injury.
–IANS
SM/AS
