FRENCH OPEN ’26: Coco Gauff Has a New Mindset for Title Defense and More Confidence on Her Serve
Gauff says she is not treating Roland Garros as a title defense after posting a better first-serve rate and fewer double faults on clay.
- Coco Gauff is approaching her French Open title defense starting Sunday as "just another tournament" rather than a championship to protect, reframing her mental strategy to reduce pressure.
- Her previous title defense at the U.S. Open two years ago ended in the fourth round with 19 double faults, teaching her that the psychological burden of "defending" undermines performance.
- During her Rome semifinal, Gauff landed 78% of her first serves against Sorana Cirstea, marking what she called "the first time in my career I feel like I'm really stable with that shot."
- As runner-up at the Italian Open, Gauff says she experienced "every scenario that can prepare me for Roland Garros," from blown leads to match points, providing confidence for the defense.
- Competition remains fierce with Aryna Sabalenka seeking clay-court improvement and 36-year-old Sorana Cirstea showing breakthrough form, while Marta Kostyuk navigates injury challenges heading into the tournament.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Washington Top News
FRENCH OPEN ’26: Coco Gauff has a new mindset for title defense and more confidence on her serve
Coco Gauff has a new approach for her second time around attempting to defend a Grand Slam title. The American’s strategy heading into the French Open — the clay-court major that starts Sunday and which she won a year ago — goes something like this: Don’t think about it as defending something. “I realize that the ‘defending’ means nothing in a way,” Gauff said. “I don’t really look at it as defending anymore.” Gauff’s first Grand Slam title defe…
Associated Press News
FRENCH OPEN '26: Coco Gauff has a new mindset for title defense and more confidence on her serve
Coco Gauff has a new approach for her second time around attempting to defend a Grand Slam title. The American’s strategy heading into the French Open that starts Sunday goes something like this: Don’t think about it as defending something.
"She's incredibly resilient and moves better than anyone on the women's tour": Coco Gauff needs one area to improve in Roland Garros defence says ex-coach Gilbert
Brad Gilbert and Nick Monroe sat down to discuss the most recent Rome Open on the Big T Podcast hosted by Tennis Channel. In particular they marvelled about the champion on the women's side in Elina Svitolina but also Gilbert's ex-charge Coco Gauff. Svitolina sealed a superb 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 victory ov...
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