Coco Gauff aiming for back to back French Open titles

United States’ Coco Gauff watches sitting on the bench during a break during the women’s final match against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

PARIS–Coco Gauff is trying to become just the third woman to successfully defend the French Open title this century after Justine Henin and Iga Swiątek.

Gauff will start her campaign against fellow American Taylor Townsend, a doubles specialist. She said at the draw she was “as ready as you can be.”

“I feel I had a good tournament in Rome, similar to the preparation I had last year, so I feel really ready.”

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Gauff’s first Roland Garros title came with a victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final a year ago.

Just like last year, Gauff was the runner-up at the Italian Open, losing in the final to Elina Svitolina. She is No. 4 and seeded to meet No. 1 Sabalenka in the semifinals.

While Sabalenka remains unbeatable at times on hard courts, she is still perfecting her game on clay. She was upset by American Hailey Baptiste in the Madrid Open quarterfinals and lost in the third round at the Italian Open to 36-year-old Sorana Cirstea.

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Sabalenka appeared visibly bothered by lower back pain in Rome. Her first-round opponent is Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, a Spaniard ranked 51st.

Elena Rybakina, ranked No. 2 and this year’s Australian Open champion, is in the same half of the draw as No. 3 Swiątek.

Rybakina has mixed results on clay. She has reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals twice. She starts against Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia.

Swiątek, the four-time French Open champion, lost to Svitolina in the Rome semifinals and is still reshaping her game under new coach Francisco Roig, who used to work with Rafael Nadal. Swiątek’s 26-match winning streak at Roland Garros ended in the semifinals last year with a loss to Sabalenka. She opens against Emerson Jones of Australia, a wild card.

Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, claimed the Rome title for her first WTA 1000 trophy in eight years — and is back in the top 10 after a maternity leave. But she’s never been past the semifinals of a Grand Slam, and never past the quarterfinals at the French Open. Svitolina takes on Anna Bondar in the first round.