Sindhu takes the opener, An takes the title
An Se-young recovered from losing the opening game to defeat P.V. Sindhu 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 in the French Open women's singles final on October 25, 2026, securing her 50th consecutive match victory and 10th title of the season.
Contents
The South Korean world No. 1 won in just over an hour at Arena Grand Paris in Tremblay-en-France. Her fourth French Open crown, and third in succession, also extended her unbeaten record against Sindhu to 11 matches.
Sindhu, ranked 11th, gave the top seed a serious early challenge. The Indian won a game against An for the first time since April 2023 and later led 8-5 in the deciding game. An recovered both times, using stronger defence and precise placement to take control.
For An, 24, the victory brought her season record to 66 wins and one defeat. For Sindhu, 31, the final ended a strong tournament without the seventh career World Tour title she had been chasing, or a second trophy this season after winning the Japan Open in July.
How Sindhu found an opening
Sindhu built her first game around patient exchanges and steep attacking shots. Her reach helped her create angles, while her willingness to stay in longer rallies gave her chances to attack rather than forcing an early winner.
The two players traded the lead before Sindhu reached the interval 11-9 ahead. An drew level at 11-11, but Sindhu moved clear again, reaching 17-14 and then 20-14. That gave the Indian six game points, meaning six opportunities to win the single point she needed to close the game.
An saved two before Sindhu finished it 21-16. Across their 11 meetings, this was only the second time Sindhu had taken a game from the South Korean. Her previous success came in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships, where she won the opener before An recovered to prevail 18-21, 21-5, 21-9.
An changes her approach
An responded by tightening her defence and becoming more patient. She reduced the openings that had allowed Sindhu to attack and made the Indian work harder to create a finishing shot.
The second game was level at 5-5 before An moved ahead. She reached the interval with an 11-7 lead and kept extending the gap, taking the game 21-11 to force a decider.
An, the reigning Olympic and world champion, explained afterwards that she had adjusted to Sindhu's attacking strength rather than continuing to rush the exchanges.
Sindhu is very strong, aggressive player. So, I focussed on my defence, and next I can catch my timing.
Her response changed the demands of the match. Sindhu had found success by waiting for the right ball to attack in the opener. With An retrieving more effectively and closing down the angles, creating those opportunities became harder.
The deciding game turns after 8-5
A rally lasting 36 shots opened the third game, setting the tone for another demanding stretch of badminton. Sindhu stayed competitive and moved into an 8-5 lead, putting herself within reach of a first victory over An.
An erased the advantage and reached the interval 11-9 ahead. A burst of six consecutive points carried her to 15-9. From the interval, she won seven of the next eight points to establish an 18-10 lead, leaving Sindhu with little room to recover.
The South Korean finished the decider 21-12. Across the final two games, An won 42 points to Sindhu's 23, a gap of 19 points after losing the opener by five.
Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, identified the loss of her early lead in the decider as the moment that mattered most.
I felt that I should have maintained the lead from 8-5. That's where I felt the difference was.
The score changes show how quickly the final moved away from her. From 8-5 ahead, Sindhu lost six of the next seven points before the interval. An then widened the gap immediately after the players changed ends.
Long rallies and errors shape the finish
Sindhu pointed to unforced errors and the difficulty of turning long exchanges into points. An unforced error is a missed shot made when a player has a reasonable chance to keep the rally going, rather than being beaten outright by an opponent's shot.
Sindhu said competing against the best players required concentration on every point. She felt that winning more of the long rallies could have changed the result.
There were long rallies and it was not like there were easy points. It was good that there were long rallies, but maybe if I could have converted them into wins, I think it would have been different.
Sindhu also acknowledged that drift affected her adjustments slightly. Drift is air movement inside an arena that can carry the shuttle farther than expected or slow it down, making accurate shots harder to judge. She nevertheless placed responsibility on controlling her own errors.
Her assessment and An's explanation describe the same turning point from opposite sides. An settled into defence and waited for better timing. Sindhu found it increasingly difficult to finish exchanges successfully, especially after surrendering her lead in the third game.
A 50-match streak and 48 career titles
An's victory completed another week of sustained success. Her 66 wins from 67 completed matches in 2026 give her a winning rate of approximately 98.5%. Her only defeat came against China's Wang Zhiyi in the All England Open final in March.
The French Open was her 10th title of the year and the 48th of her career. She had already moved beyond Indonesian great Susi Susanti's total of 46 career titles by winning the Denmark Open the previous week.
Paris added a separate measure of consistency: four titles at the same tournament, including three in a row. Sunday's final required a comeback, but An again found a way to protect a winning run that had reached 49 matches before the championship match.
Her latest trophy followed a semifinal victory over Okuhara on October 24. An won that match 21-12, 21-19 in 45 minutes, moving into the final with 65 victories and one defeat for the season.
How both finalists reached Sunday
Sindhu beat Supanida Katethong, Riko Gunji, Chiu Pin-Chian and Hina Akechi to reach the final. Her semifinal against Japan's Akechi lasted 73 minutes and ended 21-10, 20-22, 21-16.
An progressed past Amalie Schulz, Tanvi Sharma, Han Yue and Nozomi Okuhara. Her victory over Tanvi Sharma on October 22 took 37 minutes and extended her winning streak to 47 matches.
The final days of the tournament brought several milestones:
- October 22: An defeated Sharma 21-11, 21-14 to reach the quarterfinals with her 47th consecutive victory.
- October 24: An beat Okuhara for her 49th straight win, while Sindhu defeated Akechi in three games to secure the other place in the final.
- October 25: Sindhu won the opening game, but An recovered to claim the title and register her 50th consecutive match victory.
An arrived in France after experiencing pain in her right Achilles tendon following a slip during the Denmark Open final. She had described discomfort and a pulling sensation during the French Open week. Her stated priority then was to finish without another injury.
After Sunday's final, An spoke about celebrating and returning to her recovery routine. No date for her next appearance was given.
Sindhu's title bid ends with a familiar obstacle
Sindhu entered the final seeking a first win over An after 10 previous defeats. She said that history had little influence on how she approached Sunday's match, and her opening game showed she was prepared to challenge the favourite.
The result still left the rivalry at 11-0 in An's favour. Sindhu's two matches in which she has taken a game from An, in April 2023 and now in Paris, both followed the same broad pattern: the Indian won the opener before the South Korean took the next two.
Sindhu's run also renewed India's pursuit of a women's singles title at the French Open. Aparna Popat remains the last Indian woman to win the tournament, in 1998. Saina Nehwal reached the final in 2012 but finished as runner-up.
India's most recent French Open champions were Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who won the men's doubles title in 2024. The pair lost in the opening round this year.
For Sindhu, Paris brought a place in another final after her Japan Open title in July. Her strongest passages against An came when she combined patient rallying with well chosen attacks. The missed opportunity was concrete: a three point lead in the deciding game disappeared before the interval, and she could not regain it.
Key Points
- An Se-young defeated P.V. Sindhu 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 in the French Open final on October 25, 2026.
- An secured her 50th consecutive match victory, 10th title of 2026 and 48th career title.
- The South Korean won her fourth French Open crown and third in succession.
- Sindhu took a game from An for the first time since April 2023 but lost an 8-5 lead in the decider.
- An now leads their career meetings 11-0 and has a season record of 66 wins and one defeat.
- Sindhu finished as runner-up while seeking her second title of the season after winning the Japan Open in July.
