French Open: Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff’s points dropped and prize money earned
Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek’s 2026 campaign in Paris came to a shuddering halt in the round of 16 while defending champion Coco Gauff exited the tournament a round earlier and both lost a big chunk of points.
Former world No 1 Swiatek appeared to have found form in the build-up to Roland Garros as she reached the semi-final at the Italian and then appeared to carry the momentum over to the clay-court Grand Slam and she won her first three matches in straight sets.
But she came up against the in-form Marta Kostyuk – who was on a 15-match winning streak having won titles in Rouen and Madrid – and after a see-saw opening set, the Ukrainian ran away as she won 7-5, 6-1.
“I lost control of the match, and there was no way to come back, because I felt worse and worse. This isn’t positive, and this is different than losing to Elina Svitolina in Rome or to Mirra Andreeva in Stuttgart,” Swiatek said after the match.
“It’s not great. I know I lost because I was tense, and my body couldn’t do … the proper things, but it’s not the first time, as well. So yeah, I just need to work on it.
“Honestly, maybe the toughest loss is when you had the match in your hands, you made stupid decisions, you let it go and your opponent suddenly came back.
French Open News
‘I didn’t see enough fight’ – Iga Swiatek criticised after French Open loss to Marta Kostyuk
“It’s also bad when your tennis is terrible, and you know you were worse than the players you play with. But I feel I lost today because Marta used the opportunity and I was super tense.”
Gauff was two points away from victory against Anastasia Potapova in the third round, but her title defence ended with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 defeat to the Austrian.
“I don’t know, I had chances,” the two-time Grand Slam winner said. “Just trying to capitalise more on these good points that I was hitting and not quite finishing … that was the difference, she was able to finish points and I wasn’t.
“It’s one thing to lose, but today I competed, I fought my hardest, but I don’t think I played the way I wanted to in the crucial moments.”
WTA Ranking Points Dropped
The WTA uses a rolling, 52-week cumulative system to determine the rankings, and it means players have to defend points they earned from the same tournament/corresponding period 12 months ago.
With Gauff and Swiatek both exiting earlier this year, it means they have dropped points.
When Gauff beat Aryna Sabalenka in the 2025 Roland Garros final, she earned 2,000 ranking points and that total was removed at the start of this year’s tournament.
Meanwhile, a run to the third round of a Grand Slam is worth only 130 points so Gauff is effectively -1,870 and has dropped two places to No 6 in the Live WTA Rankings.
Swiatek lost in the semi-finals last year and earned 780 points while her round of 16 appearance in 2026 is worth only 240 points so she is -540.
The six-time Grand Slam winner, though, will remain at No 3 in the WTA Rankings after the tournament as no one left in the draw can overtake her while Gauff could still drop one place.
Prize Money Earned
Gauff went home with a cheque of $2,901,024 (€2,550,000/£2,166,912), well before tax, last year when she won the title, but this year she earned only $218,532 (€187,000/£161,415).
Swiatek’s career earnings grew with $333,057 (€285,000/£246,007).
