Tennis player forgets all her racquets at French Open, wins anyway
In a moment that left fans both stunned and tickled, American tennis star Coco Gauff strolled onto the French Open court without a single racquet in her bag — and still crushed her opponent in straight sets.
The mix-up occurred on Tuesday (27 May) during her opening match. Ms Gauff, who is the number 2 seed, sparked confusion and laughter when she realised her bag was completely racquet-less after walking confidently onto the court.
No racquets, no problem
According to The Guardian, the 20-year-old didn’t initially notice anything wrong.
“Honestly, I thought they put the racquets in the bag, and my side court bag is filled with drinks and everything,” she told the media after the match. “So it felt like I had enough weight.”
It wasn’t until she opened both zippers that the shocking truth hit her.
Source: @TennisChannel on X
“Oh my God. I went on court with no racquets,” she exclaimed.
She immediately informed the chair umpire, prompting a brief delay.
Source: @TennisChannel on X
“They were supposed to be in my bag,” she said.
Fortunately, a few minutes later, a ball boy rushed out of the locker rooms to hand Ms Gauff her racquets. The amusing mishap drew applause and smiles from the people in the stadium.
After that, she quickly beat her opponent, Olivia Gadeck, in two straight sets.
Jokingly blamed her coach
Later, in a cheeky jab, Ms Gauff blamed the whole thing on her coach Jean-Christophe Faurel, who has a superstition-driven habit of personally re-gripping her racquets before each match — and apparently packing them for her too.
“Honestly, as long as I’ve been on tour, my coach has always put the racquets in the bag before the match because he’s very superstitious,” she said.
Source: @cocogauff06 on X
But she was not the first player to have walked onto the court without her racquets in tow.
Back in March, Ms Gauff made fun of her fellow American tennis player Frances Tiafoe when he forgot his racquets at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Even former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, who was working as an analyst for the French Open, recounted her own embarrassing mistake. But in her case, she had forgotten her whole bag, meaning she did not have her shoes either.
” I realised I didn’t bring my racquet bag and didn’t have my racquet,” she said. “No shoes, no nothing.”
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Featured image adapted from @cocogauff06 on X.
