PARIS, France (AFP) — Reigning champion Coco Gauff's French Open title defense came to an end in the third round on Saturday as top seed Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka both won to set up a blockbuster Last-16 clash.
Gauff went down 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 to Austrian 28th seed Anastasia Potapova as the top seeds continued to fall right up to the close of a scorching opening week at Roland Garros.
The 22-year-old fourth seed had been a break up in the deciding set before Potapova put together a run of five games for the loss of just one to condemn Gauff to her earliest Roland Garros exit since her debut in Paris six years ago.
The two-time major winner insisted being the reigning champion had not affected her play, unlike in 2024 when she was defending her title in New York.
"I think at the US Open it did a lot more but honestly this time it didn't. I wasn't really nervous," Gauff said.
"That's what's more frustrating because I felt like I learned a lot from that US Open experience and I'm a better player since then and I just don't think I portrayed that today."
In a match defined by breaks of serve, Gauff conceded the crucial 10th game of the final set despite being 30-0 up behind her own delivery with a double fault sandwiched between two booming Potapova winners, before a powerful return on her second serve forced her to hit long and bid adieu to the French capital.
It was a third win for Potapova against Gauff — in their first meeting since 2023 — but she said it was a "top three (career victory) for sure".
With it she matched her best ever Grand Slam performance, when she also reached the fourth round at the French Open two years ago. She can better that on Monday when she faces 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya.
Sixth seed Amanda Anisimova also departed as the American fell in a third-set tie-break to France's Diane Parry.
Former Australian Open winner Madison Keys edged ninth seed Victoria Mboko 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.
Earlier, Sabalenka beat Australia's Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 7-5 in just 76 minutes to stamp her ticket to the fourth round.
After racing through the first set, Sabalenka went an early break down to her 53rd-ranked opponent before battling back.
The Belarusian world No. 1 set up a meeting with her fellow quadruple major winner, Osaka.
Sabalenka and Osaka, both 28, have won two Australian Opens and two US Opens apiece.
Sabalenka has beaten Osaka twice this season, but Osaka won their only previous meeting at a major — at the same stage in the 2018 US Open, the first of her major titles.
"I'm just ready for the fight," Sabalenka said of facing Osaka. "I'm ready to go out there to fight for that match, for that win. Ready to do anything it takes to get the win."
