French Open in Paris
Next surprise: the defending champion is out
May 30, 2026 – 9:47 p.mReading time: 1 min.
In 2025, Coco Gauff was able to win the tournament. But now the American has to leave early again.
The early exit for the defending champion: Coco Gauff surprisingly missed making it to the round of 16 at the French Open. The American lost 6:4, 6:7 (1:7), 4:6 against Anastasia Potapova from Austria on Saturday and has to travel home.
Gauff prevailed in the final last year against world number one Aryna Sabalenka and secured her second major title after her triumph at the US Open in 2023. She had a hard time against Potapowa, and even winning the first set didn’t bring any peace. The Austrian fought back and finally won after 2:37 hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
“It was a great fight”
“I hardly have any words. It was a great fight,” said the world number 30. Potapova: “Coco is such a champion, I respect her a lot.” In the next round she will face the Russian Anna Kalinskaya.
So the “dying of favorites” continues in Paris – even if before Gauff’s exit the focus was primarily on the men’s singles with the early defeats of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic. The American, who is number four, will now fall back a few places in the world rankings.
