Paris: PV Sindhu has made a career out of drama on the biggest stages, but even by her standards, her first-round escape at the French Open 2026 on October 21 was something special. The two-time Olympic medallist survived one of the most startling collapses of the season to beat Thailand’s Supanida Katethong 21-14, 8-21, 23-21 in a 64-minute thriller in Paris and reach the women’s singles second round.
For long stretches it looked routine, and for one dizzying passage it looked calamitous. Sindhu took the opener 21-14 with her trademark controlled aggression, then fell away sharply as Katethong raced through the second game 21-8. What happened next in the decider, though, will be replayed for weeks. Sindhu surged to a seemingly unassailable 19-8 lead — and then watched it evaporate as the Thai world-beater reeled off 11 consecutive points to level at 19-19.
Eleven straight points. In elite badminton, a run like that usually ends only one way. The Paris crowd, which had been cheering Sindhu’s early dominance, fell into a nervous hush as Katethong’s winners kept finding the lines and the Indian’s game tightened visibly. At 19-all, with the momentum entirely with her opponent, Sindhu faced the very real prospect of a first-round exit that would have dominated headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Champions, though, are defined by what they do at 19-all. Sindhu steadied herself, found depth on her clears, and forced Katethong into the long rallies she had been avoiding during her purple patch. The Indian brought up match point and converted at the second time of asking, sealing a 23-21 win that felt less like a first-round victory and more like a final. It was her sixth win in ten career meetings with Katethong — and arguably the most hard-earned of them all.
The scare will concern her coaching team more than the result will delight them. A 19-8 lead in a decider should never become a 19-19 lottery, and Sindhu knows it. Her post-match demeanour told its own story: relief rather than celebration, the look of a player who understands she got away with one. The good news is that she has 24 hours to reset; the bad news is that the draw offers no mercy.
Up next is Japan’s Riko Gunji, who earned her second-round ticket by beating India’s own Unnati Hooda in another first-round encounter. Gunji is precisely the kind of fast, flat-hitting opponent who can punish the defensive lapses Sindhu showed against Katethong. The Indian will need her A-game from the first shuttle, not just from match point.
There was further Indian interest elsewhere in the draw, and it came with its own twist. In an all-Indian men’s singles clash, Ayush Shetty stunned the far more experienced Kidambi Srikanth 19-21, 21-16, 21-12 — a result that underlines the churn at the top of Indian men’s badminton and gives the Paris crowd another home-hero-free Indian storyline to follow.
For Sindhu, though, October 21 was about survival. The French Open remains one of the few Super 750 titles missing from her cabinet, and she will not get many better chances than a draw opening up around her. She lived to fight another day in Paris — barely. The second round will tell us whether the scare sharpened her or scarred her.
