Coco Gauff forgot one thing essential earlier than her first-round match on the French Open on Tuesday: her rackets.
Gauff seemed puzzled when she opened her bag and realized her rackets weren’t there. A couple of minutes later, a ball boy ran out onto Court docket Philippe-Chatrier, delivering her rackets.
After her match towards Australian Olivia Gadecki, Gauff jokingly pointed the finger at her coach for the racket mishap.
“Actually, so long as I have been on tour, my coach has all the time put the rackets in my bag earlier than the match as a result of he is very superstitious,” she stated, via the Associated Press. “I am blaming it on my coach. It is OK.”
The racket gaffe did not hinder Gauff. The 21-year-old American dominated, beating Gadecki 6-2, 6-2. She additionally gained on 68% of her first serves.
Gadecki wished Gauff had left her rackets within the locker room.
“Now that I give it some thought, it looks as if that was the one means I used to be going to win the match,” Gadecki stated, per the Related Press. “It was a humorous little incident.”
No. 2 seed Gauff is slated to face Czech Tereza Valentova within the second spherical on Thursday. That matchup may very well be one other victory for Gauff. Valentova, 18, is 20-6 this season however is making her Grand Slam debut.
Gauff, in the meantime, reached the French Open closing in 2022 and semifinal final season. This season, she is 24-8 and has reached the ultimate of two of her previous three tournaments.
Gauff forgot her rackets on Tuesday, however she did not neglect to carry her sport. If she retains taking part in at a excessive stage, she may make one other deep run at Roland-Garros.
