Coco Gauff’s French Open title defense ends in 3rd-round loss

TennisCoco Gauff’s French Open title defense ends in 3rd-round lossGauff’s French Open title defense ended in the third round after losing to Anastasia Potapova in three sets.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Coco Gauff of the United States during her third round match against Anastasia Potapova of Austria in Paris on Saturday.Dan Istitene / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 30, 2026, 3:43 PM EDTBy The Associated PressCoco Gauff finally met a player in Paris who could match her court coverage in long baseline rallies.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Anastasia Potapova ended Gauff’s French Open title defense in the third round with a 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory over the American on Saturday.“Coco is such a champion. I respect her so much,” Potapova said. “I’m unbelievably proud of myself as well that I stayed there, that I’ve been fighting for the last point and here I am.”The match was played before mostly empty stands inside Court Philippe-Chatrier as French fans stayed away to watch the Champions League soccer final.Gauff’s second Grand Slam title came with a victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final at Roland Garros a year ago.The 30th-ranked Potapova, who was born in Russia but now represents Austria, improved to 3-2 in her career against Gauff. She’s having quite a clay season after reaching a final in Linz, Austria, and the semifinals of the Madrid Open as a qualifier.The fourth-ranked Gauff was coming off a run to the Italian Open final.When Gauff shanked a forehand wide on Potapova’s first match point, Potapova fell on her back and covered her eyes as she stuck her feet up in the air in celebration.Gauff waved to the crowd and quickly walked off court when the match was finished.It wasn’t a matter of mistakes for Gauff — she hit three double-faults to her opponent’s eight and had 46 unforced errors to Potapova’s 56. It was more that Potapova controlled more...