Coco Gauff overcame being the butt of the joke to win a laugher in her first-round match at the French Open on Tuesday in Paris.
First, the funny part: Gauff arrived at Court Philippe-Chatrier without her rackets.
A ball boy saved the day by retrieving the equipment and the second-seeded Gauff shook off the momentary mix-up, needing just 71 minutes to record a 6-2, 6-2 win over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki.
“Honestly, as long as I’ve been on tour, my coach has always put the rackets in the bag before the match because he’s very superstitious,” Gauff said. “I’m blaming it on my coach. It’s OK.”
No blame was needed about the performance of Gauff, who held a 3-2 lead before winning six straight games to change the complexion of the match.
Gauff will take on Czech qualifier Tereza Valentova in the second round on Thursday. Valentova posted a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Chloe Paquet of France on Tuesday.
Like Gauff, third-seeded Jessica Pegula had little issue with her first-round foe, breezing to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Romanian Anca Todoni.
Sixth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia posted a 6-4, 6-3 win over Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, while 25th-seeded Magdalena Frech of Poland overcame a tough first-set by notching a 7-6 (4), 6-0 victory over Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.
Sofia Kenin, who is seeded 31st, breezed to a 6-3, 6-1 win over France’s Varvara Gracheva.
Beatriz Haddad Maia, who was seeded 23rd, was not as fortunate. Hailey Baptiste upended the Brazilian, courtesy of a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win.
Also advancing were Ashlyn Krueger, England’s Sonay Kartal, France’s Elsa Jacquemot, Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, Japan’s Nao Hibino and 2019 finalist Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
–Field Level Media
