"Bleep the final, it's in the past": Gauff looking forward instead of back after opening French Open campaign

American tennis phenom Coco Gauff is determined to focus on the present and leave memories of her runner-up finish last year at Roland Garros behind her.

The 19-year old fell to a red-hot Iga Swiatek in straight sets in the 2022 final, but Gauff is ready to resume her quest to capture her maiden Grand Slam trophy.

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Following her opening round three-set victory over Rebeka Masarova on Tuesday, the sixth seed revealed she was not looking back to her performance from last year's final.

"Honestly, I can't say this word but I was like bleep the final," said Gauff. "It's 2023, it's in the past so I'm not worried about that. And then the second set, same thing. I mean the first set, bleep the first set. It's over.

“So, I just told myself I had a bad game in the first set, a couple of great chances. So I knew that I was going to be able to turn it around, I just had to be aggressive on those moments."

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Although Gauff admitted she was not as she dropped the first set against Masarova, she stated she was very confident in her abilities on clay.

"I mean, even today, I feel like there are certain aspects of my game that I wasn't playing my best," she added. "But I know that I'm confident on the surface and in these conditions and I think that's what I relied on today.”

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