Coco Gauff Gets Emotional While Reflecting on Hailey Baptiste’s Devastating Injury

Coco Gauff has admitted that she got emotional after watching Hailey Baptiste land on the clay court awkwardly during her second-round match at the French Open. Baptiste sustained an ACL and meniscus injury during her match against Xinyu Wang, which ended devastatingly following the injury.

Baptiste had defeated former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first round and was delighted with her performance. But in the second round, she was 4-5 down and seeking to win her serve and level the score. Her opponent hit a forehand shot that lobbed, which she tried to defend, but then landed in an awkward manner that saw her scream in pain.

Her father immediately got down from her coaching box and ran toward her, with the umpire and Wang doing the same. But she refused to be moved amid the likely excruciating pain that she was going through. After a few minutes, she was eventually helped off the court and couldn’t put any weight on her left leg.

Later, Jim Courier announced on the TNT broadcast that Baptiste’s agent confirmed that she suffered an ACL injury and a meniscus issue and will have surgery very soon. The news came as a big surprise to the tennis world, as Baptiste was among the dark horses at Roland Garros, having beaten Aryna Sabalenka at the Madrid Open.

She also reached the semi-finals of the Madrid Open, as well as reaching a career-high ranking of World No.25. She’s reportedly going to be away from the court for at least six months and could miss the rest of this season. Fellow American star Gauff revealed during her media interview that she felt emotional seeing Baptiste’s father run to the court immediately she began to scream:

I was really emotional seeing her father run to her on the court after her injury, because it reminded me of my relationship with my own father. I know he would have done the same for me. Hailey (Baptiste) is someone who has always been super respectful and kind on and off the court, regardless of her ranking or mine. That’s something I really respect about her, on top of the work she puts in every day. She has always been underestimated throughout her life.

The 2026 French Open has witnessed a lot of drama on the court, but, heartbreakingly, it has also seen players leave with injuries. Alexander Blockx fell on the tarpaulin used to demarcate courts in Roland Garros and was seemingly asked to promptly remove it from the mentions on his Instagram post. Jasmine Paolini left her press conference momentarily in tears after complaining about an injury.

Coco Gauff passes a stiff challenge to reach the third round at Roland Garros

Coco Gauff booked her place in the third round of the French Open as she continues her bid to defend the Grand Slam title. She’s yet to drop a set at the tournament and has not met a tough test at the event. She defeated Egypt’s Mayar Sherif 6-3, 6-2, but the scoreline didn’t reflect the high-level display from both players.

Sherif built her tactics on extending rallies, which stretched the match. The first set alone lasted for an hour and four minutes, despite Gauff breaking the Egyptian star thrice on the court. During the aforementioned press conference, Gauff explained that Sherif is one of the most difficult opponents to face on tour:

I definitely think she’s a bit underrated. She’s someone you don’t really want to play, especially on clay, because she really makes you earn every point, more so than anyone I’ve played this year so far. Maybe between her and Elina [Svitolina] have been my most physical matches, despite the scoreline today being a little more straightforward, but we had many long games.

Gauff will now face Anastasia Potapova in the third round of the French Open. Potapova has been a revelation since the clay season began. She reached the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open before losing to eventual champion Marta Kostyuk and then reached the round of 16 of the Italian Open.

Also Read: Frances Tiafoe Offers Two Free Tickets to Fan Who Took His Racket After His Roland Garros Thriller