Defending champion Coco Gauff knocked out of French Open in third round
Defending French Open champion Coco Gauff was knocked out of the third round on Friday at Roland Garros, losing 4-6, 6-3, 4-6 to Russian player Anastasia Potapova. According to BBC Sport, the result marks the first major setback of the season for the American, who had been defending her only Grand Slam title to date. Gauff was eliminated just days after celebrating her 22nd birthday.
The match was shaped from the first set by Potapova's deep baseline groundstrokes. The 24-year-old Russian took the first set 6-4. BBC's match analysis noted that Gauff's serve was inconsistent — her first-serve percentage in the opening set was only 51 percent — which meant she could not exploit her first-serve advantage and could not reach Potapova's depth from the baseline.
Gauff recovered in the second set: she lifted her first-serve percentage to 68 percent and took the set 6-3 to level the match. ESPN Tennis's match note observed that Gauff was 'using her deep forehand more effectively' in this set. However, at the start of the deciding set, Potapova again raised her level and broke Gauff's serve to lead 1-1 after two games.
The key moment of the decider came at 4-3 in Potapova's favour, when she broke Gauff's serve for a second time. BBC correspondent Russell Fuller wrote that the break 'shifted not just one game, but Gauff's focus point'. With Potapova serving for the match at 5-4, she took four consecutive points to close out the set 6-4. The match lasted 2 hours and 14 minutes in total.
The result means Gauff could not defend the Roland Garros title she won in 2024 by defeating Iga Swiatek 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the final. WTA ranking points lost will take her out of the world top-three by the next ranking update. In her post-match remarks, Gauff said 'today was not my best day' and added that 'Potapova played really well'. She said her team planned a dedicated training camp ahead of the Cincinnati Open to adjust her baseline strokes.
For Potapova, this was one of the biggest wins of her career. The 24-year-old Russian had reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2022, but defeating the defending champion of a Grand Slam to reach the fourth round in Paris is described by the BBC as possibly the 'brightest day' of her career. Potapova is expected to face Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the fourth round.
Among the other women's high-seed players, Iga Swiatek defeated Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4 in her third-round match and enters the fourth round in good form. Aryna Sabalenka beat Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova 6-3, 6-2 to set up a fourth-round meeting with former Wimbledon champion Naomi Osaka — a pairing the BBC characterised as 'as significant as a final on early ground'.
Gauff's early exit triggered a brief shock in US tennis. Across the past three seasons, Gauff's rate of reaching the fourth round at Grand Slams stood at 89 percent — the highest among American women players after Serena Williams. Currently ranked third on the WTA Tour in mid-May, Gauff is expected to lose ranking points because of the result.
Other notable upsets at this French Open include the early exit of defending champion Jannik Sinner in the second round of the men's draw and Novak Djokovic's third-round loss to young Brazilian Joao Fonseca. BBC Tennis columnist Jamie Lyall described the situation as 'both the men's and women's draws being unexpectedly open' and forecast outstanding tennis through the fourth round and the quarter-finals.
Gauff's upcoming calendar includes the Berlin Open and the Birmingham Classic — both grass-court warm-up events for Wimbledon. The American will work specifically with coach Brad Gilbert on the transition from clay to grass over the summer. BBC's closing assessment said the third-round loss 'does not define the season' for Gauff, and her return at Wimbledon will be closely watched.