Death, taxes, and Coco Gauff’s serve going off the rails, it’s almost tradition at this point. The 21-year-old American kicked off her 2025 French Open campaign with a forgettable moment, quite literally. As she stepped onto the court for her first-round match, she quickly realized something was missing – her racket. After signaling to her team in the stands and laughing it off, Gauff recovered from the mix-up in style. She breezed past Australia’s Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-2 in just 71 minutes. But her performance in the second round leaves much to be desired. Find out what fans have to say about it!
Gauff, the 2022 Roland Garros finalist, returned to Court Suzanne Lenglen to face 18-year-old Julia Valentova. The match lasted only 75 minutes, and the scoreline read 6-2, 6-4 in Gauff’s favor. But a deeper look painted a much messier picture.
Valentova, ranked outside the Top 130 and playing her debut Grand Slam, hit 33 unforced errors gifting the 2023 US Open champion plenty of free points. Still, it wasn’t smooth sailing for the World No. 2. Gauff was broken five times in the match. The only game she held on serve in the second set came in the fifth game, which turned out to be the most important one. That lone hold helped her close out the win, but the cracks were hard to ignore.
Her serve, once again, was the hot topic. So what are the fans saying?
Fans react to Coco Gauff’s abysmal performance at the French Open
Online, the reaction was swift and blunt.
While tennis journalist Jose Morgado praised Coco Gauff’s win on social media, fans weren’t buying the hype. One fan wrote, “That was far from a strong performance. Gauff’s serve really struggled—winning just 19% of second serves and piling up double faults isn’t what you’d expect from the world No. 2. If she hadn’t been up against a junior, she likely wouldn’t have pulled out the win.”
That was far from a strong performance. Gauff’s serve really struggled—winning just 19% of second serves and piling up double faults isn’t what you’d expect from the world No. 2. If she hadn’t been up against a junior, she likely wouldn’t have pulled out the win https://t.co/2Hi8KblDQY
— Ebony Brown (@Tennispodcast24) May 29, 2025
Another comment added, “Brother what do you mean good performance she got broken 4 times in the 2nd set, tell me you didn’t watch the match just saw the scoreline.”
The criticism kept coming.
“Cake walk Jose lol! I know you can only beat the person in front of you, but come on,” one fan posted, echoing the disbelief.
“She was broken 4 or 5 times by a junior player who is outside of the TOP 130,” said another.
And one especially frustrated fan didn’t hold back: “Good performance? My eyes were bleeding. She won 1 game on her serve in second set against Valentova who made her debut in Grand Slam here in Paris.”
The post “My Eyes Were Bleeding”- Fans Tear Down Coco Gauff After French Open Performance Trashes American Hopes appeared first on EssentiallySports.
