Coco Gauff caused a brief and amusing delay at the French Open on Tuesday when she stepped onto Court Philippe-Chatrier without her rackets.
Gauff looked confused before a ball boy ran out minutes later carrying her pack of mint-colored rackets. “That´s better,” said the court announcer, drawing laughter, applause and smiles from the crowd in the tournament´s main stadium. Despite the mix-up, No. 2-seeded Gauff went on to defeat Australia´s Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-2 in her opening match.
The American jokingly blamed her coach for the missing rackets. “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,” she said. “I´m blaming it on my coach. It´s OK.” Gauff was a 2022 finalist at Roland-Garros and is among the title contenders again.