Gauff on Upset: Game Lost in Translation

By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, May 30, 2026
Photo credit: Julien De Rosa/AFP/Getty

Pounding her palm against her forehead in frustration, Coco Gauff looked like a woman trying to make sense of her dirt dilemma.

Two points from a straight-sets win, Gauff saw her Roland Garros title defense dissipate in the dirt today.

Anastasia Potapova charged through five of the last six games to dethrone defending champion Coco Gauff 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 in the Roland Garros third round today.

In the last game, Gauff led 30-Love only to double fault, then brain-cramp on a timid drop shot bail out as Potapova won four points in a row to reach her second French Open fourth round.

The fourth-seeded Gauff cited several sources of aggravation today. Gauff said her struggles to finish points, close out leads and translate her form from the practice court to match courts are frustrating.

“I feel like I’m practicing well, and when the moments get there, I’m not quite translating that,” Gauff told the media in Paris. “I do it at times, and then I also don’t do it.

“I think it’s just a learning experience, and hopefully when I’m in this position again, I can make better decisions.”

World No. 30 Potapova scored her third straight win over Gauff to take a 3-2 lead in their head-to-head series.

It is the earliest exit by a reigning Roland Garros women’s champion since Barbora Krjecikova bit the dust in the 2022 opening round. It’s the first time in five years Gauff has lost in Paris to a player not named Iga Swiatek.

Two-time Rome runner-up Gauff said she’s satisfied with her effort, but disappointed she didn’t play more proactive tennis on pivotal points down the stretch.

“I think just I feel like I lost the same way in Rome as I did here, which is not good, I think,” Gauff said. “I don’t know. You never want to lose the same way back-to-back times, and I did, and I feel like also in
Madrid, it was a similar thing, losing the same way.

“It’s one thing to lose, but I think today… I mean, I competed, like, I fought my hardest, but I don’t think I
played the way I wanted to in the crucial moments.”

The 2023 US Open champion served 67 percent and committed only three double faults, though one came in the final game, but Gauff said she must gain an advantage with her serve rather than using it as a point-starter.

“Obviously the serve is more consistent, although I’m not holding serve, which is the issue,” Gauff said. “I guess who cares how many serves I make in the court if the result is still the same.

“Obviously the grass, I think, will help a little bit more, but I think I could have served more aggressive at
some points and did more patterns that I work on in practice today. I just didn’t do so.

“Yes, it’s more consistent, and I have a lot of trust now in my serve, but at the same time, I got broken a lot of times, and I have to correct that.”