Coco Gauff Cruises in French Open Opener Despite Pre-Match Racket Mishap
Coco Gauff kicked off her 2025 French Open campaign with a dominant straight-sets win, but not without a surprising moment before the match began. The World No. 2 defeated Australia’s Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday at Court Philippe-Chatrier, although the encounter almost started on an awkward note.
Just before the first-round match was due to start, Gauff confidently made her way onto the court only to discover that she had no rackets in her equipment bag. Fortunately, the situation was quickly resolved when a ball boy returned her rackets in time, and the match was able to proceed without any delay.
Once on court, Gauff showed no signs of distraction from the mix-up. She delivered a strong performance on clay, easily dispatching Gadecki to secure her place in the second round.
In her post-match interview, Gauff was asked about the unusual incident, which drew laughter from the crowd. She explained that the mistake stemmed from a routine her coach follows. According to Gauff, he is quite superstitious and prefers to put fresh grips on her rackets before every match. However, on this occasion, he forgot to return them to her bag.
She jokingly shifted the blame to her coach, noting that this mishap was particularly ironic given her recent teasing of fellow American Frances Tiafoe, who had a similar racket blunder at the Indian Wells Open earlier this year. Gauff admitted that after poking fun at Tiafoe, she’ll now have to stay quiet about such things.
“The culprit is not in the box,” she said, referring to her coach. “He knows the rackets are supposed to be in my bag. Honestly, as long as I’ve been on tour, he’s been doing that—putting the rackets in my bag. He likes to grip each racket new each day. I don’t care about the grip, I can play with a dirty one. But I got on court and realized I had no rackets. And I just made fun of Frances for the same thing. Now I have to stay quiet. But it’s okay, I’m blaming him.”
Gauff’s second-round opponent is yet to be determined. She will face the winner of the match between Chloe Paquet and Tereza Valentova.
Despite the pre-match hiccup, Gauff remains one of the frontrunners for the women’s singles title in Paris. Her impressive clay-court form has made her a strong contender, as she recently finished runner-up at both the Madrid Open and Italian Open, losing to Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini respectively.
Other top contenders for the 2025 French Open crown include World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, defending champion Iga Swiatek, former winner Jelena Ostapenko, and World No. 3 Jessica Pegula.