Coco Gauff forgets her racquets, remembers how to win

Dubai: Coco Gauff stepped onto Court Philippe-Chatrier ready to play — but without her racquets.

The world No. 3 had to ask the chair umpire for an unusual favour: to send someone to the locker room to fetch the very equipment she needed for her French Open opener. What followed was a moment of laughter, a delivery by a ball boy — and a dominant straight-sets win.

The 21-year-old American brushed aside Australia’s Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-2 in just one hour and 11 minutes after the brief delay.

“They were supposed to be in my bag,” Gauff told the chair umpire.

“I’m blaming it on my coach,” she joked later. “Honestly, as long as I’ve been on tour, my coach has always put the racquets in the bag before the match because he’s very superstitious.”

Despite the mishap, Gauff said the oversight may have actually helped settle her nerves ahead of her opener at the year’s second Grand Slam.

“Usually I’m very nervous and I was a little bit today, but I think I was the least nervous heading into the first round of a Grand Slam,” she said. “And then the whole racquet situation took a load off too.

“After that, maybe it relaxed me going into the match, because it was just such a funny thing. So I’m just happy to get through today – and I will remember my racquets for next time.”

Gauff played her first senior Grand Slam final at the 2022 French Open, where she lost in straight sets to Iga Swiatek. A year later, she went on to claim the US Open title.

She arrives in Paris this time on the back of two runner-up finishes in Madrid and Rome – losing to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Italy’s Jasmine Paolini respectively.