"I was like, 'bro, I have no racquets'": Coco Gauff laughs off unforgettable French Open mishap

Coco Gauff was the guest on the latest episode of The Player’s Box, where she joined co-hosts Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Jennifer Brady and Desarae Krawczyk to chat on the podcast about anecdotes and fun moments she has experienced on tour.

The co-hosts prepared a round of Never Have I Ever, and laughter broke out when the question was whether anyone had ever forgotten their racquets before going out on court. Gauff, in particular, had a memorable situation in the past at the French Open, when she arrived for her first-round match without her racquets.

According to her explanation, the mistake was her coach’s fault, combined with the weight of the bottles she was carrying — which she thought accounted for the weight of her racquets. “I just pick up my bag because French Open has a reasonable bottle. So my other bag was just so heavy because all the bottles. I didn't even notice the weight of my tennis bag,” the world No. 4 said. “So I know I go on court with six racquets. I open one and I'm like, 'that's weird, no racquets'. And I open the other one and there's no racquets.”

“And I look at my box, there's nobody there. So now I try to go on my phone to call my coach. And then the ref is like, ‘you can't do that.’ And I was like, 'bro, I have no racquets'. He's going to tell me coaching or something right now before the match even started.”

The 21-year-old American still took the amusing situation in good spirits — before going on to secure the win against Olivia Gadecki (6-2, 6-2), which kick-started her title run and ultimately led to her second Grand Slam crown. “So then, eventually my New Balance rep was in the box. And I just opened my bag up and show him I have no racquets. And he goes sprints. And then JC gets the racquets. I was so mad, but it got the nervousness out. At this point, I was like, okay, I'm going to win.”

Another moment the two-time major champion recalled was her participation at the 2025 United Cup, where she led Team USA to the title for the second time in three editions of the tournament. Gauff remembered the celebrations, particularly her first attempt at opening a bottle of champagne.

“The first time I popped champagne was this year at United Cup and Taylor Fritz had to show me how to do it. Des (Krawczyk) was there,” the 21-year-old player mentioned. “I feel like multiple people had to help me, but it got there. I was worried about breaking my nail, not necessarily like it popping.”

That experience helped her feel more prepared during her celebrations at Roland Garros after winning her second major title. “I did it at French Open, but I don't feel comfortable doing it on court in front of people. I feel like it would take me too long… yeah, don’t ask me to do that.”

Gauff also had no hesitation in choosing her favourite moments of the year, highlighting her French Open title — where she defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final after coming back from a set down. “I mean, winning a slam, I feel like it's hard to not choose that,” said the American, who also added another standout moment from her season. “Other than that, honestly, United Cup. I had so much fun. Like, that was a great start to the year.”

At the moment, Gauff is competing at the 2026 United Cup — once again partnering Taylor Fritz. She earned a victory in the opening tie against Argentina’s Solana Sierra (6-1, 6-1), but was then upset in the tie against Spain by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (1-6, 7-6, 0-6). Nevertheless, Gauff’s strong performances in mixed doubles alongside Christian Harris proved crucial for Team USA’s qualification to the quarter-finals, where they will face a tough Greece led by Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas.