It is the yr of the upset at Roland-Garros.
The 2026 French Open has been outlined by gorgeous outcomes, and the ladies’s draw expertise one in every of its greatest thus far on Saturday when reigning champion Coco Gauff fell to Anastasia Potapova in three units, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.
Per ESPN, the third-round exit is Gauff’s earliest at Roland-Garros since her debut run in 2020. She had reached the quarterfinals in 5 consecutive tournaments.
Coco Gauff upset in third spherical as French Open protection falls quick
Following the loss, Gauff lamented, “I do not suppose I performed the way in which I needed to within the essential moments.” After rallying to win the primary set after which once more to take 6-5 lead within the second, Gauff stumbled, dropping the set by way of tiebreak, 7-1. Later, she served to maintain the match alive, however her shot off of Potapova’s return went errant, prematurely ending Gauff’s run in Paris.
The outcome signifies that for the primary time since 2021, there will not be a repeat champion within the ladies’s draw. That yr, Barbora Krejcikova gained her solely (up to now) grand slam, adopted by Iga Swiatek reclaiming her crown and profitable three straight (2022-24).
Seeded third on this yr’s occasion, Swiatek has a robust probability of profitable her fifth French Open, which might break a tie with Justine Henin for many within the ladies’s match this century. But when Swiatek falters earlier than the end line, Roland-Garros would have a first-time winner in each the lads’s and ladies’s draw for the primary time in 10 years, when Novak Djokovic and Gabine Muguruza every gained their first Coups des Mousquetaires and Coups Suzanne-Lenglen, respectively.
Gauff’s loss matches with the overarching theme of this yr’s match, the place we have come to anticipate the surprising. Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton are among the many highly-ranked males who’ve misplaced early, whereas Elina Rybakina, Amanda Anisimova and Karolina Muchova are among the many prime 10 seeds within the ladies’s draw to exit earlier than the second weekend.
Primarily based on a wild first seven days at Roland-Garros, extra may quickly comply with.
