An Se Young beats P.V. Sindhu 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 to win French Open
An Se Young defeated P.V. Sindhu 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 in the final of the $950,000 French Open Super 750 in Paris on Sunday, October 25, 2026. The world No. 1 prevailed in three games to deny Sindhu the title.
The 31-year-old Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, began the match strongly and used her reach and attacking strokes to secure the opening game. It was only the second occasion in her career that she had taken a game off An; Sindhu has not beaten the Korean in 11 meetings to date.
The opening game featured several close net exchanges and extended rallies, with the score moving from 4-4 to 7-7 at one stage. During one rally An struck a shuttle that hit Sindhu on the face, and Sindhu took a two-point lead at the break with an overhead cross-court smash. She then moved to 15-11 as An made a series of backline judgement errors.
Errors from Sindhu — a long lift and a smash into the net — allowed An to cut the gap to 13-15 before Sindhu again erred at the net and later reached 19-14. Sindhu earned six game points with a disguised slice; An saved two with a deceptive drop and an angled cross-court return but then sent one long, allowing Sindhu to close the opening game in 20 minutes.
After the change of ends An opened the second game 3-0 and briefly ceded ground when a cross-court smash helped Sindhu pull to 2-4. An responded with net touches and a perfect net shot at 7-6, and a 30-shot rally helped her keep a slender lead. Two smashes extended An's advantage to four at the interval, and she pushed on to 13-7 as Sindhu tightened her net play.
A run of points saw nine of the next 10 go to An, who moved to 17-8 and accumulated 12 game points; Sindhu saved three before An converted to level the match. The decider featured another long rally — 36 shots — that ended with Sindhu going wide, and Sindhu then established a 8-5 lead before An drew level at 8-8 with a smash.
An seized control late in the decider, moving ahead 9-8 after a decisive net pounce and taking a two-point interval lead following a body smash and a shot away from Sindhu's backhand. Having won six of the last seven points in the first half of the decider, An reached 13-9, extended to 18-10 and then produced a long shot that gave her eight match points; she sealed the victory at the first opportunity.
The Olympic champion clinched her fourth French Open title and 11th crown of the season, while Sindhu signed off the tournament as runner-up.
