Coco Gauff makes Roland Garros history after 2nd round win

The French Open is nearing the middle weekend and the contenders are separating themselves from the pretenders. On the women’s side, Coco Gauff has had no trouble getting through the first two rounds of her title defense. After running away from fellow American Taylor Townsend in the first round, the No. 4 seed controlled a scrappy affair with Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif in a 6-3, 6-2 second-round match on Thursday at Roland Garros. With this win, Gauff made a little bit of American tennis history.

She picked up her 29th-career win at Roland Garros at just 22 years of age, giving her the most wins at the French Open by an American woman prior to turning 23, per OptaAce. Mary Joe Fernandez was the previous record holder with 28, and Serena Williams sits in third with 25 victories. Roland Garros has been Gauff’s most successful event during her young career. She has made five straight appearances in the quarterfinals of the clay-court major and is two wins away from a sixth trip to the last eight.

She reached her first Grand Slam final at the French back in 2022, losing to Iga Swiatek in straight sets, before returning to the final and beating Aryna Sabalenka in 2025. Gauff’s overall record at Roland Garros sits at a pristine 29-5. This year, Gauff has a challenging draw to potentially get back to another final and try to defend her crown. She will take on the No. 28 seed Anastasia Potapova in a tricky third-round encounter on Saturday.

The Austrian is fresh off of a trip to the semifinals in Madrid and the Round of 16 in Rome and has won the last two meetings with Gauff, so the American will have to be on her game to get the win. Later down the line, Gauff could be looking at a quarterfinal clash against No. 6 seed Amanda Anisimova and a semifinal battle with Sabalenka, who is still the World No. 1 and is having another incredible season. The American has a long road ahead to capture her second Roland Garros title, but she proved last year that it will be extremely difficult to beat her on the clay courts of Paris.