Defending Champion Coco Gauff Eliminated from French Open by Anastasia Potapova
The Mt Kenya Times 
Reigning French Open champion Coco Gauff
By Norman Mwale
PARIS — Reigning French Open champion Coco Gauff saw her Roland Garros title defence come to a dramatic end on Saturday as she was defeated in three sets by Austrian Anastasia Potapova, the 28th seed, on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The fourth-seeded American, who lifted the Suzanne Lenglen Cup in 2025, fell 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 in the third round after being a break up in the deciding set, joining a growing list of marquee names to exit early from this year’s tournament.
Gauff insisted afterwards that the weight of being defending champion had not affected her performance, distinguishing the occasion from her experience at the 2024 US Open when she entered as the title-holder. “I think at the US Open it did a lot more but honestly this time it didn’t. I wasn’t really nervous,” Gauff told reporters. “That’s what’s more frustrating because I felt like I learned a lot from that US Open experience and I’m a better player since then and I just don’t think I portrayed that today.” The 22-year-old added that she simply failed to capitalise at key moments. “I had chances. Just trying to capitalise more on these good points that I was hitting and not quite finishing… that was the difference, she was able to finish the points and I wasn’t.”
Potapova, the Russian-born world number 30 who represents Austria, produced the match of her life to record a career third win over Gauff and reach the fourth round in Paris for only the second time. “I think I’ve had a few big wins before, but I’d put it top three for sure,” Potapova said on court after the two-hour and 37-minute contest. “I’m cramping a little bit, but it’s OK, it’s all good. I don’t have any words now, I’m extremely happy.” The 25-year-old was full of praise for her opponent. “The fight we could show… Coco’s such a champion and I respect her so much. I’m unbelievably proud of myself, that I stayed there, and that I was fighting until the last point.”
The match swung repeatedly across a breathless two hours and 37 minutes. After losing her opening service game, Gauff struck back to break Potapova in the eighth and 10th games and take the first set. Potapova responded with two consecutive breaks to race 3-0 ahead at the start of the second, only for her own serve to desert her as the next five games all produced breaks. Gauff saved two set points, levelled at 5-5 and held again, but Potapova forced a tie-break where a double fault left Gauff 5-0 down before the Austrian closed it out 7-1. In the decider, Gauff drew first blood to lead 3-1, yet Potapova broke back to level at 3-3, held firm from deuce with what TNT Sports described as “gutsy play”, and broke again for 5-4 before serving out the match.
Seven-time French Open champion Chris Evert, analysing for TNT Sports, said Potapova had “played the match of her life”. “It’s her day, it’s her court, it’s her match. She kept coming back. She believed in herself, she was patient and disciplined,” Evert said. “And Coco, who was one of the favourites to win this, has to be devastated.”
The defeat marks Gauff’s earliest exit at Roland Garros since 2020 and is set to see her drop out of the world’s top five for the first time since September 2024, with nearly all of the 2,000 ranking points earned from last year’s title now lost. Potapova, who has matched her best Grand Slam result, will face 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya in the fourth round on Monday as she continues a strong clay-court season that included a final in Linz and a semi-final in Madrid.
Gauff’s exit follows those of men’s top seed Jannik Sinner and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic earlier in the week, while Amanda Anisimova also fell on Saturday to Frenchwoman Diane Parry. With four-time champion Iga Swiatek and world number one Aryna Sabalenka still in contention, the draw has opened significantly. For Gauff, attention now shifts to the grass-court season and Wimbledon, where she will look to rebound after last year’s first-round loss.
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