The early end for the defending champion: Tennis superstar Coco Gauff surprisingly did not reach 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.
“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 was eliminated, 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.
