Coco Gauff Explains Her Forced Smile at Roland Garros After Fans Claim She’s ‘Tired’ Due to Grueling Schedule

Just like many tennis players, Coco Gauff is also gearing up for the biggest clay-court tournament of the season- the Roland Garros. Gauff has already arrived in Paris, and Roland Garros’ social media pages also shared a video of her entering the complex with her team.

In front of the cameras, Gauff forced a smile, with fans thinking that she was “tired” due to the grueling schedule, and hoped that not just Gauff but other players also get enough rest before starting their campaigns at the French Open.

Some also called her “unfriendly”, urging her to make an effort when fans greet her. Reacting to these claims, Gauff also dropped a comment. She admitted to getting awkward in front of cameras.

Guys i’m just awkward when people record me idk if I should smile or act normal so therefore you get this awkward energy lol

Coco Gauff wrote

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros)

Gauff will enter Roland Garros as the defending champion. The 22-year-old came from a set down to defeat World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final, winning her second Grand Slam singles title.

The main draw of the French Open is set to start on May 24th. Before winning the clay-court Major last year, Gauff lost to Sabalenka in the Madrid Open final and to home favorite Jasmine Paolini in the Italian Open final.

She played the final of the Italian Open this year as well, but failed to go past Elina Svitolina. It was the second time she featured in a final following the Miami Open, where Sabalenka stopped her from ending her title drought. Gauff last lifted a title at the 2025 Wuhan Open.

Rennae Stubbs backs Iga Swiatek to win the French Open ahead of Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff

Aryna Sabalenka has never tasted success at the French Open but has clinched three titles on clay, all at the Madrid Open (2021, 2023, and 2025). Coco Gauff is the winner of two clay-court singles titles.

The current WTA player with the most titles on clay is Iga Swiatek, also the four-time Roland Garros champion. Serena Williams‘ former coach backed the Pole to end her title drought in Paris ahead of Sabalenka and Gauff.

If I’m putting money on anybody, honestly, it’s Iga. And not because I expected her to win this tournament. I was disappointed that she didn’t. I expected her to be in shambles because of how much turnover and how technically sort of all over the place she’s been. She gets panicky, and I haven’t liked the fact that she’s had a sort of confusing run-up. That said, what she did at the height of her powers in Rome looked untouchable.

Rennae Stubbs said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast

Sabalenka, even though she has played four finals and won three titles, has lost both the clay-court events she has played before reaching the semifinals. Hailey Baptiste knocked her out in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, while Sorana Cirstea ended her run in the third round of the Rome event.

The ones that I have more question marks about for me are Coco and Aryna Sabalenka. Coco obviously won it last year. Aryna Sabalenka lost in the Finals. I don’t know what’s going on with Aryna. Clay is not obviously necessarily her part of the calendar to shine in, but she did get to a Finals last year and arguably could have and maybe should have won it.

Rennae Stubbs added

Sabalenka captured the Brisbane International but lost the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina. She later completed the Sunshine Double.

Also read: Coco Gauff Embarrassed After Mom Asks Her to Pose While Pointing Toward Roland Garros Poster