PARIS — Coco Gauff finally found someone in Paris who could match her court coverage in long baseline rallies.
Anastasia Potapova defeated the American 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4 in Gauff’s French Open third round on Saturday, ending Gauff’s title defense.
“She was able to score points and I wasn’t,” Gauff said. “I just don’t take advantage of certain shots.”
The match was played in front of mostly empty stands inside Court Philippe Chatrier, as French fans stayed away to watch the Champions League football final.
Gauff’s second Grand Slam title came a year ago when she defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final of Roland Garros.
Potapova, who was born in Russia and currently ranks 30th on the Austrian national team, improved her career record to three wins and two losses against Gauff. She has had a productive season on clay, reaching the final in Linz, Austria and reaching the semi-finals as a qualifier at the Madrid Open.
Gauff, who is ranked fourth in the rankings, continued to make good progress toward the Italian Open final. She lost to Elina Svitolina in Rome. This is another player who can match her in long rallies.
“We lost here in Rome the same way,” Gauff said. “I definitely don’t want to lose in the same way over and over again.”
When Gauff swung a forehand wide on Potapova’s first match point, Potapova celebrated by lying on her back, covering her eyes and raising her legs high. Gauff waved to the crowd and immediately left the court after the game ended.
“Coco is a real champion. I have a lot of respect for her,” Potapova said. “We’ve been fighting for that last point and here we are.”
For Gauff, it wasn’t a question of mistake. She hit three double faults to her opponent’s eight and had 46 unforced errors to Potapova’s 56. Rather, the problem was that Potapova had better control during long rallies and wore Gauff down.
Gauff ran a total of 2,309 meters (yards) to Potapova’s 2,090 meters (yards).
