‘OK, no racquets…’ – but Gauff makes serene progress

French Open 2025

Location: Roland Garros, May 25 – June

As Coco Gauff prepared to enter the French Open, her face caught her attention and realized she had forgotten one crucial thing.

Her racquets

The confused world number two quickly raised the alarm for her team in the stands before continuing to highlight her status as one of the pre-tournament favorites.

Olivia Gadecki, the 2023 US Open champion, defeated her in just 71 minutes, 6-2, 6-2.

To play with a racquet is “the most crucial thing.” The 21-year-old joked later, “I was getting through the first step after finding them.”

“I probably relaxed myself before the match because it was just so funny,” I thought.

Before a ball kid delivered her empty bag to her team, Gauff was able to laugh about the situation and show them where her racquets should have been.

I thought they put the racquets in the bag, to be honest. Gauff told TNT Sports that my side court bag was filled with drinks to the point where I thought I had enough weight.

“Then I entered the court, and I opened the first zipper.” I said, “OK, no racquets,” and I was right. Oh my God, the second zipper. I played on the court without racquets.”

She continued, “I made fun of Frances Tiafoe] for it in Madrid, but I’ll stay quiet.”

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva beat Cristina Bucsa earlier in the day, despite jokingly saying she didn’t like her wake-up call.

The 18-year-old left Court Suzanne Lenglen early on Tuesday morning, leaving at 11:00 local time in Paris.

Andreeva won the first set 6-4, 6-3, coming back from a double break deficit to win her first Grand Slam as a top-10 seed.

Andreeva remarked, “Truly, it was very challenging.”

“I don’t like to wake up early, so I’m not really happy.”

Daniil Medvedev, the men’s world number 11, has also expressed concern about early starts and jokingly “boycott” morning games.

However, he did not perform as well as Andreeva, falling short of Cameron Norrie in a five-set epic.

Andreeva continued, “I had 35 minutes to pack my bags and do everything, and I had to wake up at 6:30.”

Then we had to wait for 30 minutes before arriving at the court for breakfast, and I spent 11 minutes in the locker room before warming up and playing.

It was very well thought out, he said.