Coco Gauff Admits She Didn’t Feel Pressure of Being Reigning Champion After Failed Roland Garros Title Defense

Although Coco Gauff failed to defend her title at Roland Garros, she did not feel the pressure of being the reigning champion during her campaign. On Saturday (May 30), the American ace suffered a 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 defeat at the hands of Anastasia Potapova in the third round in two hours and 37 minutes.

The win helped Potapova improve her head-to-head record over Gauff to 3-2. The Austrian ace will next be locking horns with Anna Kalinskaya, who defeated Camila Osorio. Gauff will leave the top 5. In the live rankings, she stands in the sixth position.

I think it influenced much more at the US Open. But honestly, not this time. I wasn’t really nervous. I was nervous in the first round, but after that, I wasn’t nervous today, and I didn’t even think about it.

Gauff was also aiming to end her title drought in Paris. She last won a title at the 2025 Wuhan Open.

I think I learned from my experience at the US Open. I don’t think it influenced the result, played a role in today’s result, but well. I feel like I learned a lot from that experience at the US Open, and I am a better player since then. I just don’t think I showed it today.

Coco Gauff added

Gauff, after playing the 2022 French Open final (lost to Iga Swiatek), clinched the US Open the following season by defeating World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka. She will next be preparing for the grass swing, where last year she suffered an opening-round exit at the Berlin Open, and later at Wimbledon, Dayana Yastremska knocked her out in the opening round. Wimbledon is the only Major where Gauff has yet to progress to the quarterfinals. She has made the fourth round thrice.

Coco Gauff on what went wrong during her match against Anastasia Potapova

Prior to the clay-court Major, the 22-year-old played three tournaments on this surface. Eventual runner-up Karolina Muchova ended her run in the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart Open, while Linda Noskova defeated her in the fourth round of the Madrid Open, where she finished as the runner-up last year. Against Muchova, Gauff previously held a 6-0 record.

She was also the finalist in Rome last year and this year, losing both times (this year to Elina Svitolina). Gauff, at the press conference after her latest defeat, said she did not play the way she wanted to in crucial moments.

I just feel like I lost in the same way in Rome as here, which is not good. You never want to lose the same way twice in a row, and I did, and I also feel that it was somewhat similar in Madrid, losing in the same way. One thing is to lose, but I think today I competed, I fought with all my might, and I didn’t play as I wanted in crucial moments.

So far this season, Gauff has featured in two finals. Prior to the Italian Open, she played the title clash of the Miami Open, losing to Aryna Sabalenka. It was Sabalenka whom Gauff defeated in last year’s French Open final.

Now that Gauff is out, Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek will be the heavy favorites to win the tournament. Earlier this year, the Belarusian ace failed to win her third Australian Open title, losing to Elena Rybakina.

Swiatek, the reigning Wimbledon champion, last won a clay-court title at the 2024 Roland Garros, completing a hat-trick as well as winning her fourth title in the tournament. Two Ukrainian aces, Marta Kostyuk and Svitolina, are also enjoying good form this year, but neither of them has played a Major final in their career.

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