Coco Gauff powered past Taylor Townsend to open her title defence with a 6-4, 6-0 win
Less than a year ago, Coco Gauff became the first US woman to win the singles title in Paris since Serena Williams in 2015. She opened her title defence in the same decisive fashion on Tuesday on Court Philippe-Chatrier, powering past fellow American Taylor Townsend, 6-4, 6-0.
Only three times in the Open era has the defending women’s singles champion lost in the first round of the Roland-Garros singles draw. Despite an early deficit, Gauff was determined not to be the fourth.
After rallying from an early break down, Gauff stormed through the final seven games to book a second-round clash with Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif.
After the match, Gauff showed up at her post-match press conference and admitted that dealing with Townsend’s fast start was challenging at first. Then the Rome runner-up doubled down on her self-belief and marched to her eighth consecutive victory on the Parisian clay.
Having recently won three consecutive three-setters in Rome to reach the final, Gauff is the epitome of match tough at the moment, and it showed in her response to opening set travails.
“I had thoughts about what if I lose and stuff,” she said. “Honestly, I kind of remembered that tennis is two out of three sets, and I think Rome taught me a lot about my ability after losing the first set and stuff.
“I felt like Taylor came out playing really great tennis, and I just felt like if she continues to play like this and she wins a match like this, then she deserves to win and I could walk away and be like, I just wasn't good enough today. I didn't allow myself mentally today to get to that point where I feel like in the past I would.”
Gauff turned on the jets and produced a flawless second set, winning 25 of 34 points and dropping just four points on serve across the unblemished stanza.
Some players have had difficulty dealing with the high temperatures in Paris during the first week. Not Gauff. The Floridian takes the warm weather as an invitation to demonstrate her supreme fitness. She even goes out of her way to get in some practice beneath the hot sun – better safe than sorry, she says.
“It's funny,” she said. “When I saw it was going to be hot, I definitely think it's something I do well in and can thrive in a bit because of growing up in Florida. And I know some people try to practise early, but I try to sometimes practise in the prime of the day, even if it's shorter, just to get used to it, because you never know.”
ROLAND-GARROS
18 May - 7 June 2026
