Coco Gauff arrived at the proverbial airport on Tuesday, but forgot her luggage.
It was time for Gauff to take the court for her first round match at the French Open and the 21-year-old was seemingly prepared to play some tennis, with tennis bags in tow and headphones on her ears as she walked out onto Court Philippe-Chatrier for her match against Olivia Gadecki.
There was just one problem: Gauff didn't have any rackets.
Seeing as rackets are kind of sort of an important part of playing tennis, a perplexed Gauff looked towards her players' box while holding her bag, and could be seen mouthing the words, "I have no rackets." Once the message was delivered, Gauff shared a laugh with Gadecki, and moments later, a ball boy emerged from the tunnel with a collection of rackets.
When you forget your rackets 😅 @CocoGauff pic.twitter.com/bG3hbaTuWW
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) May 27, 2025
Aside from Gauff's gaffe with her rackets, Tuesday was a business-like day for the world No. 2, as she dispatched Gadecki in straight sets (6-2, 6-2). After her match, Gauff poked fun at herself with a self-deprecating joke on X.
oops, forgot the last one pic.twitter.com/ajqcgFg6mn
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) May 27, 2025
Speaking in a post-match interview, Gauff jokingly blamed her coach for forgetting to put the rackets in her bag.
No racket, no tennis 🤭
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 27, 2025
L'entrée de Coco Gauff sans ses raquettes de match, c'est le troisième instant détente avec Hespéride ! #Hesperide #MyHesperide pic.twitter.com/YzazW4dyEF
"The culprit is not in the box because he knows that the rackets are supposed to be in my bag," Gauff said with a laugh. "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, so he likes to grip each racket new each day. I don't care. I can play with a dirty grip."
Fellow American tennis player Frances Tiafoe also made a similar unforced error at Indian Wells in March, as he also forgot his rackets pre-match.
"And so I go on the court and I realize I have no rackets, and I literally just made fun of Frances for it in Madrid," Gauff continued. "But now I'll be quiet. But I'm blaming it on my coach, so it's okay."
Gauff will next play Tereza Valentova in the second round on Thursday, this time, presumably, with tennis rackets in her bag.
More on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Coco Gauff Posts Self-Deprecating Joke After Forgetting Rackets at French Open.
