Argentina’s Solana Sierra has become one of the most improbable stories of the 2026 French Open, reaching the third round at Roland-Garros as a lucky loser after knocking out former finalist Jasmine Paolini and ex-U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in back-to-back rounds.
The 21-year-old, ranked 68th in the world, did not even earn her place in the main draw outright, slipping in as a lucky loser after falling in qualifying. She has made the most of the reprieve. In the opening round she overwhelmed Raducanu 6-0, 7-6 (4) on Court 13, racing through a 24-minute opening set before holding firm in a second-set tiebreak. It was the first time in three appearances that Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, had failed to reach the second round in Paris; the Briton blamed a lack of match play after an injury-hit spring.
Sierra then produced the win of her career in the second round, recovering from a set down to beat No. 13 seed Paolini, the 2024 Roland-Garros runner-up, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. The Argentine struck 38 winners and broke the Italian four times, turning the match with her aggressive baseline play and her comfort on the clay.
Her run has come amid chaos in the bottom half of the women’s draw. No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina was stunned by Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva, and Paolini’s exit removed another former finalist, leaving the section wide open. Four-time champion Iga Swiatek, by contrast, has advanced to the third round without dropping a set.
The breakthrough is not entirely without precedent for Sierra, who has built a reputation as a clay-court specialist and a big-stage overachiever. At Wimbledon last year she became the first lucky loser to reach the women’s singles fourth round in the Open Era, and only the seventh woman to do so at any major. A former junior finalist at Roland-Garros, she has spent the past two seasons climbing through the WTA’s lower tiers, collecting titles on the ITF and WTA 125 circuits before establishing herself inside the top 70.
Standing between Sierra and a maiden Grand Slam fourth round is Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, the experienced 36-year-old who reached the third round with a straight-sets win over Eva Lys. The pair were scheduled to meet Friday on Court 14, with Cirstea favored on paper but Sierra carrying the momentum of two upset wins and a clear edge in confidence on the surface.
Whatever the result, Sierra has emerged as the standard-bearer for Latin America on the women’s side of a tournament that has already proved fertile ground for the region’s players. For a 21-year-old who arrived in Paris as an afterthought in the draw, a place in the second week of a Grand Slam would cap a remarkable week on the Parisian clay.
