Gauff, “Walmart Version of Rafa”, Opens Clay Season with a Win in Stuttgart

Coco Gauff got her 2026 clay-court season up and running with an impressive victory over Liudmila Samsonova to reach the quarterfinals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

The 22-year-old American, last year’s Roland-Garros champion, improves to 19-3 on clay since the start of 2025. Her only losses in that span came to Jasmine Paolini (Stuttgart quarterfinals and Rome final in 2025) and Aryna Sabalenka (Madrid final in 2025).

On Thursday, Gauff had to rally from 3-0 down in the opening set after being broken in her first two service games and failing to convert early break opportunities. She quickly turned the momentum with back-to-back breaks to level at 3-all, but had to fight back from a break down once more—winning the final three games of the set to take control.

“I started off a little bit rough, had some break point opportunities in the first game, but happy to get through today,” Gauff said. “I’ve never really had easy first-round matches here in Stuttgart, so I guess the trend continued a little bit today.”

Gauff, into her third consecutive quarterfinal in Stuttgart, won 13 of the final 16 games. She raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second set before closing out the match in one hour and 36 minutes.

The No. 3 seed improves to 17-6 on the season and will face Karolina Muchova—whom she has defeated in all six previous meetings—in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Muchova advanced with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Elise Mertens.

“I’m still getting used to the clay,” Gauff said. “There are some decisions I could have made differently, but the clay here is different from Madrid and Rome—it’s very slippery, and it’s hard to change direction on this surface.”

Walmart Version of The King

During her post-match chat with Heinz Gunthardt, Gauff was asked who she modelled her game after on the clay. After hemming and hawing a bit, she said she tries to hit her forehand like Rafa a bit, then clarified.

“Like a Walmart version of Rafa. I don’t want to be obliterated online. Like, a lesser version of Rafa, okay?”

Rybakina Rolls

Elena Rybakina, the 2026 Australian Open champion, also made a strong start to her clay campaign, defeating Diana Shnaider, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals.

The top seed and 2024 Stuttgart champion is now third on the WTA Tour in wins this season with 22. She will face either Zeynep Sonmez or Leylah Fernandez next.