French Open 2026: An Se Young defeats PV Sindhu 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 in final

PV Sindhu lost to world number one An Se Young 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 in the women’s singles final of the French Open 2026 at the Arena Grand Paris on Sunday. The top-seeded An secured her fourth French Open title.

The 31-year-old double Olympic medallist began the match aggressively, bringing intensity and sharp court control from the opening shuttle and taking advantage of early errors by An. It was only the second time in 11 career meetings that Sindhu won a game against the Korean.

An responded in the second game with sustained consistency, producing a long run of points to win 21-11 and force a decider. After a 9-9 deadlock in the third game, An used her court coverage and defence to pull away and complete the victory in 61 minutes.

Sindhu said, "When you’re playing with the top athletes, you have to be at your 100% every single point. I know it’s not going to be easy and you have to fight for every point. That’s what we were doing." She added that the long rallies made it challenging to convert opportunities, but remained positive about the lessons from the match.

Reaching the title clash was Sindhu’s second BWF World Tour Super 750 final of the 2026 season, following her title victory at the Japan Open in July; the Japan Open is her only title so far in the 2026 BWF season and the French Open runner-up finish was her second podium of the ongoing season.

Sindhu’s run to the final marked the 10th time an Indian entry has reached the championship round of a BWF World Tour event (Super 300 and above) outside India this season, surpassing the previous record of nine finals set in 2023.

This officially cements 2026 as the most successful year ever for Indian representation on the international circuit.