Australian Olivia Gadecki expressed a rueful smile when reminded of a bizarre moment preceding her clash with American star Coco Gauff on the main stadium court at Roland Garros on Tuesday.
The Gold Coast talent was shaping to begin her warm-up against the world No.2 when Gauff experienced the tennis version of stepping into a pub with no beer at the French Open.
When Gauff, who was America’s Olympic flag bearer in the Paris Games last year, went to fetch a racquet for the match, she came up empty-handed.
Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
The 23-year-old, who fell to the former Roland Garros finalist 6-2 6-2 in 1hr 11min on Philippe Chatrier Stadium, quipped that her best chance to cause a massive upset might have gone begging in the moments before the first round encounter started.
“That’s never happened to me, but it seems like that was the only way I was going to win the match, now that I think about it,” Gadecki said.
“But no, it was a funny little incident, and I’m sure it happens to the best of us.”
Gauff, a US Open champion in 2023, vowed not to make the same mistake next time as she seeks to continue on her impressive form through the clay court season which included runs to finals in Madrid and Rome.
“Well, the most important thing is to play with a racquet. So I was getting through the first step,” she said.
“After that, maybe it probably relaxed me going into the match, because it was just such a funny thing. So I’m just happy to get through today and I will remember my racquets for next time.”
Gauff is not the first American to be absent-minded when it comes to the essentials of the sport, with her good friend Frances Tiafoe making a similar mistake earlier this year at Indian Wells against Damir Dzumhur earlier this year.
Gadecki, meanwhile, is loving life living in London despite struggling to find her best form this year after a significant breakthrough last in 2024 when reaching the final of a WTA Tour event in Mexico, a season in which she broke into the top 100.
She has won five of her 15 matches this season when moving between the primary and secondary tour and arrived in Paris sitting at 91 in the rankings. That will ensure her participation at Wimbledon and she feels her best form is not too far away.
“I would say I’ve definitely had better starts to the year but I’ve still got six months, so hopefully I can find my feet a little bit,” she said.
“I think it’ll just take a couple of things to kind of change. It’s a long career and I think some years are going to be good, some years not so good. But I think you just got to take it as it comes.
“Right now I’m … I’m healthy (and) I’m happy most of the time, (though) I’m obviously not happy with how I’m going. But like I said, it is what it is. It doesn’t take much to change. Who knows? A good week could be just around the corner.”
Discussion about this post