Sindhu chases French Open title as An Se Young seeks a 10th crown
PV Sindhu will meet An Se Young in the women's singles final of the French Open on Sunday, with the 31-year-old Indian one win away from a title and the world No. 1 standing in her path.
Sindhu has been noted for her resilience at this event and is one victory from claiming her seventh BWF World Tour title and a second Super 750 crown in the same season. She regained title-winning form at the Japan Open in July, defeating Akane Yamaguchi in the final to win her sixth World Tour trophy; that was her first BWF title since December 2024 and her breakthrough at the Super 750 level. A French Open triumph would give Sindhu multiple titles in a calendar year for the first time since 2022.
Sindhu opened her French Open campaign with a hard-fought win over Thailand's Supanida Katethong before defeating Japan's Riko Gunji and Chinese Taipei's Chiu Pin-chian in straight games. In the semi-final she prevailed in a three-game contest against Akechi, taking the opening game 21-10 after winning 11 of the final 12 points. Akechi won the second game after Sindhu had levelled at 20-20, and in the decider a 38-shot rally ended with a Japanese net error that gave Sindhu an 18-16 lead; she then earned four match points after Akechi hit wide and sealed the victory with a cross-court smash.
An Se Young arrives in Paris having compiled a 65-1 win-loss record in 2026 and carrying a 49-match winning streak into Sunday's final. The world No. 1 has captured nine titles so far this season and will be chasing a landmark 10th crown at the French Open. She has yet to drop a game at this tournament, defeating Amalie Schulz 21-6, 21-4, Tanvi Sharma 21-11, 21-14, Han Yue 21-13, 21-16 and Nozomi Okuhara 21-12, 21-19.
The head-to-head record heavily favours An Se Young, who has won all 10 of her previous meetings with Sindhu; the Indian has taken only one game across those encounters. Sindhu's closest challenge came in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships when she claimed the opening game but lost 18-21, 21-5, 21-9. Their only prior final meeting occurred at the 2021 BWF World Tour Finals when a 19-year-old An Se Young beat Sindhu 21-16, 21-12. In 2026 the South Korean extended her dominance with 21-17, 21-14 wins in the Singapore Open quarter-finals in May and 21-17, 21-15 in the second round of the Indonesia Open a week later.
Sindhu signalled confidence ahead of the final, saying: "I have to give her a good fight, a tough fight. Every point matters. I know we've played a lot of times and she's been doing really well. She's been at her top form. But I think tomorrow is a different day. Every day is a new day. I just have to go out there and give my best. Rest just decides on that particular day. So yeah, I'm ready to give a fight," said Sindhu. For the Indian ace to stop the Korean juggernaut, then she will need to consider it as a new day and fight for each point.
The French Open final is scheduled to begin at 3:30 PM IST on Sunday and will be streamed live on FanCode; the title clash will not be available on any television channel in India.
