Defending French Open champion and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff is out of the women's draw after a surprising loss to No. 28 seed Anastasia Potapova, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 on Saturday afternoon at Roland-Garros. Gauff's loss is the earliest exit for a defending French Open champion since 2022 when Barbora Krejčíková got sent out in the first round.
The match started inauspiciously for Gauff as she was broken at love in the first game, which was particularly concerning given service issues have been her Achilles heel for quite some time. However, Gauff was able to dig in and get that break back and another to take the first set 6-4 and seemingly take control of the match.
Potapova rallied in the second set to take a commanding 5-2 lead before nearly falling apart as Gauff ripped off four straight games to ultimately force a tiebreak. However, there the momentum completely flipped with Gauff struggling to keep the ball in the court as Potapova cruised to a 7-1 win in the tiebreak to force a third and decisive set.
In that third set, Gauff got an early break to go up 3-1, but gave that back almost as quickly to put the match back on serve at 3-3. It would remain on serve until Potapova took a 5-4 lead, putting the pressure on Gauff's serve to hold up to extend the match. Unfortunately for the American star, her issues holding serve reared their head as Potapova got the break to win the match in her first opportunity to give the Austrian the biggest win of her career.
COCO GAUFF UPSET AT ROLAND-GARROS 🚨
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 30, 2026
No. 28 Anastasia Potapova takes down the defending champ pic.twitter.com/fto870rgFx
For Gauff, it's a disappointing end to her title defense at Roland-Garros as she got further confirmation that improving the consistency of her serve is the biggest hurdle to clear. The clay courts at Roland-Garros have long been good to Gauff, and this third round exit is her earliest since 2020. It's the first time she's lost to someone other than four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek in Paris since 2021.
Potapova advances to the French Open fourth round for the second time in her career (2024), which is also the deepest she's ever gone in a grand slam. There she will face No. 22 seed Anna Kalinskaya for a place in the quarterfinals of what is becoming a wide open portion of the draw to the semis.
Potapova and Kalinskaya are the only seeded players left in that quarter, as the 2026 French Open has seen seeds dropping all over both the men's and women's draws. The other fourth round match will be between Maja Chwalinska and Diane Parry. Parry took down another top American earlier on Saturday, as she knocked off No. 6 seed Amanda Anisimova in three sets -- 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (10-3).
With Gauff and Anisimova's losses, Madison Keys is the only American woman left in the French Open draw, as her dream of adding a second grand slam title remains alive.
