French Open 2025
Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros
Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app
The look on Coco Gauff’s face said it all as she walked out on court to begin her French Open title bid, only to discover she had forgotten one vital thing.
Her racquets.
The confused world number two quickly alerted her team in the stands to the situation, but managed to laugh off the mishap before going on to underline her position as one of the pre-tournament favourites.
The 2023 US Open champion went on to beat Australia’s Olivia Gadecki 6-2 6-2 in just 71 minutes.
“The most important thing is to play with a racquet. So [after finding them] I was getting through the first step,” the 21-year-old joked afterwards.
“After that, it probably relaxed me going into the match, because it was just such a funny thing.
“I’m just happy to get through today and I will remember my racquets for next time.”
Displaying her empty bag to her team and showing them where her racquets should have been, Gauff was able to laugh about the issue with Gadecki before a ball kid delivered them.
“Honestly, I thought they put the racquets in the bag. My side court bag is filled with drinks so it felt like I had enough weight,” Gauff told TNT Sports.
“Then I got on court, and I opened the first zipper. I was like, ‘OK, no racquets’. The second zipper… ‘Oh my God. I went on court with no racquets'”.
She added: “I made fun of Frances [Tiafoe] for it in Madrid but now I’ll be quiet.
“I am blaming it on my coach.”
Earlier, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva beats Cristina Bucsa to advance – despite joking she did not like her early morning wake-up call.
The 18-year-old was first on Court Suzanne Lenglen on Tuesday morning, stepping out at 11:00 local time in Paris.
Playing her first Grand Slam as a top-10 seed, Andreeva recovered from a double break deficit in the first set to win 6-4 6-3.
“Honestly, it was very difficult,” Andreeva said.
“I’m not really happy because I don’t like to wake up early.”
Men’s world number 11 Daniil Medvedev has also complained about early starts and joked he may “boycott” morning matches.
However he did not fare as well as Andreeva, losing his morning match to Britain’s Cameron Norrie in a five-set epic.
Andreeva added: “I had to wake up at 6.40 and then I had 35 mins to pack my bags and do everything.
“Then 25 minutes to have breakfast, 30 minutes to come here and then I spent 11 minutes in the locker room and then we did the warm-up and went on court.
“It is very well planned.”
Andreeva, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, will face Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands next.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an early exit in a 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 defeat by Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
American third seed Jessica Pegula cruised into the second round with a 6-2 6-4 victory against Romania’s Anca Todoni.
