The defending champion is out. Coco Gauff failed in the third round of the French Open to Anastasia Potapova from Austria. And completely deserved it.
She looked into the void in this final phase of the game. For seconds. Coco Gauff looked like she was thinking: What’s going on? Why these errors? Why so often? Questions about questions. But the American was no longer able to provide answers in the third round of the French Open. Last year’s winner was eliminated after a disappointing performance.
Gauff lost to the Austrian Anastasia Potapova on Saturday in three sets 6:4, 6:7 (1:7), 4:6. It was a fair result because on the one hand the outsider played good tennis and on the other hand Gauff didn’t come close to her normal form.
Inexplicable misfires from Gauff
The favorites were behind early in the opening set, but at least fought back and took the lead. Already in this phase, however, various deficiencies became noticeable in Gauff. Her serves were inaccurate and the poor ball throw was a nuisance. The longer the game lasted, the more Gauff struggled with himself and her sometimes inexplicable lapses.
In the second set, the American fought back again after being 2:5 behind, only to be unable to get anything going in the tie-break. 1:7, clear. The signs weren’t good for the fourth in the world rankings.
In the decisive set, Gauff was finally ahead with a break, but here too she gave up her serve game again. She opened the door to the round of 16 for Potapova – and the Austrian, who was by no means outstanding, walked through. A bang.
