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, despite falling behind 3-0 in the opening set.
“I felt I was playing not bad, but … it was 0-3. If I’m playing not bad, how is it 0-3?” Andreeva said. “So then I told myself to keep playing the same, try to fight for every point and put a lot of balls in court and try to play aggressive. Step by step, point by point, I found my rhythm and then it was easier for me to push and play aggressive.”
Polish 25th-seeded Magdalena Frech overcame a tough first-set by notching a 7-6 (4), 6-0 victory over Ons Jabeur of Tunisia. No. 31 seed Sofia Kenin breezed to a 6-3, 6-1 win over France’s Varvara Gracheva, and No. 32 seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan topped Argentina’s Solana Sierra 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Of Tuesday’s upsets, two were pulled off by unseeded Americans. Hailey Baptiste upended Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, who was seeded 23rd, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Later in the day, Alycia Parks toppled No. 14 seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
France’s Lois Boisson delighted the home crowd with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 upset of Belgian 24th seed Elise Mertens, and Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic eliminated 30th seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia 6-4, 7-5.
Also advancing were Ashlyn Krueger, Ann Li, England’s Sonay Kartal, France’s Elsa Jacquemot, Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, Japan’s Nao Hibino, Taiwan’s Joanna Garland and 2019 finalist Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
–Field Level Media
