Heartbreak for home hope Caroline Garcia who falls to shock defeat at French Open

Home hope and fifth seed Caroline Garcia is out of the French Open after losing in dramatic fashion to Anna Blinkova at Roland Garros on Wednesday.

Garcia became the highest-ranked women's player to exit the Grand Slam so far after falling to a shock 6-4, 3-6, 5-7 second-round defeat to the Russian.

The 29-year-old is by a distance the top-ranked French player in either the men’s or women’s singles but the country’s wait for a new grand slam champion goes on.

Blinkova had never beaten a top-five player before but battled back from a set down to triumph, finally taking her ninth match point.

“It was very, very hard. This victory is a very important thing for me,” said world No 56 Blinkova, who will now face Elina Svitolina in a repeat of last weekend's Strasbourg final won by the Ukrainian.

Svitolina who extended her winning streak to six matches with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Australian qualifier Storm Hunter. “Every match is different. I need to stay concentrated match by match and day by day,” added Blinkova.

...and breathe!