Coco Gauff, a 21-year-old American tennis prodigy who gained worldwide fame as a runner-up at the French Open in 2022. This year, she started her tournament run in a more atypical fashion. In a surprising turn of events, Gauff arrived at her first-round match against Olivia Gadecki without her rackets, creating a moment of confusion before she ultimately triumphed.
The incident occurred just before the match began, leaving Gauff visibly puzzled as she realized her mistake. Gauff’s coach, the notorious racket superstitious, usually packs all Gauff’s rackets himself. Gauff humorously shifted the blame onto him, stating, “Honestly, as long as I’ve been on tour, my coach has always put the rackets in the bag before the match because he’s very superstitious. I’m blaming it on my coach. It’s OK.”
Despite the early hiccup, a ball boy promptly brought her rackets, and Gauff was able to find her footing and roll. Continuing her streak of poise under pressure, she put together a commanding performance against Gadecki. She was victorious in a rout—taking the win in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. This overwhelming win solidified her reputation as one of the prime contenders for the tournament’s top prize in this year’s NCAA championship.
Gadecki introduced a fun pugilistic element to the proceedings. She quipped that leaving her rackets behind could be the key to Gauff’s success. “Now that I think about it, it seems like that was the only way I was going to win the match,” she remarked after their match.
Following the incident, Gauff had a little fun with it, posting this photo of her to-do list on TikTok. One of the still-unchecked items on the list was, “Put tennis rackets in bag.” She captioned it with a humorous note: “no rackets but the fit is still a hit.“
Coco Gauff will take on Czech Republic’s Tereza Valentová in the second round on Thursday. The young athlete aims to capture her first French Open title this year and will need to maintain her concentration and competitive edge in the upcoming matches.
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