By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, Could 30, 2026
Picture credit score: Julien De Rosa/AFP/Getty
Pounding her palm towards her brow in frustration, Coco Gauff looked like a lady making an attempt to make sense of her dust dilemma.
Two factors from a straight-sets win, Gauff noticed her Roland Garros title protection dissipate within the dust immediately.
Anastasia Potapova charged by 5 of the final six video games to dethrone defending champion Coco Gauff 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 within the Roland Garros third spherical immediately.
Within the final sport, Gauff led 30-Love solely to double fault, then brain-cramp on a timid drop shot bail out as Potapova received 4 factors in a row to succeed in her second French Open fourth spherical.
The fourth-seeded Gauff cited a number of sources of aggravation immediately. Gauff stated her struggles to complete factors, shut out leads and translate her type from the follow courtroom to match courts are irritating.
“I really feel like I’m working towards properly, and when the moments get there, I’m not fairly translating that,” Gauff informed the media in Paris. “I do it at instances, after which I additionally don’t do it.
“I feel it’s only a studying expertise, and hopefully once I’m on this place once more, I could make higher choices.”
World No. 30 Potapova scored her third straight win over Gauff to take a 3-2 lead of their head-to-head sequence.
It’s the earliest exit by a reigning Roland Garros ladies’s champion since Barbora Krjecikova bit the mud within the 2022 opening spherical. It’s the primary time in 5 years Gauff has misplaced in Paris to a participant not named Iga Swiatek.
Two-time Rome runner-up Gauff stated she’s happy together with her effort, however dissatisfied she didn’t play extra proactive tennis on pivotal factors down the stretch.
“I feel simply I really feel like I misplaced the identical manner in Rome as I did right here, which isn’t good, I feel,” Gauff stated. “I don’t know. You by no means need to lose the identical manner back-to-back instances, and I did, and I really feel like additionally in
Madrid, it was an identical factor, dropping the identical manner.
“It’s one factor to lose, however I feel immediately… I imply, I competed, like, I fought my hardest, however I don’t assume I
performed the best way I wished to within the essential moments.”
The 2023 US Open champion served 67 p.c and dedicated solely three double faults, although one got here within the remaining sport, however Gauff stated she should achieve a bonus together with her serve quite than utilizing it as a point-starter.
“Clearly the serve is extra constant, though I’m not holding serve, which is the difficulty,” Gauff stated. “I suppose who cares what number of serves I make within the courtroom if the end result remains to be the identical.
“Clearly the grass, I feel, will assist a little bit bit extra, however I feel I might have served extra aggressive at
some factors and did extra patterns that I work on in follow immediately. I simply didn’t accomplish that.
“Sure, it’s extra constant, and I’ve plenty of belief now in my serve, however on the identical time, I bought damaged plenty of instances, and I’ve to right that.”
