Coco Gauff will find herself in a brand new position later this month, as she returns to Roland Garros as a defending champion for the first time.
With that comes unique pressures, and it will be intriguing to see how the American deals with them.
After all, she remains arguably one of the most scrutinised players on the planet regardless of her performances, and so this new layer of expectation could either spur her on to further greatness or weigh her down completely.
With her latest comments, after her opening-round win at the Italian Open, Coco Gauff seems to be trying to alleviate the pressure and ensure that the latter does not become a reality.
Coco Gauff discusses defending her Roland Garros title
Asked about how she feels about defending such a prestigious title, and how it differs from when she returned to New York in 2024 to defend that title, Gauff admitted that she is no longer piling the pressure on herself. That, at the very least, is what she can control.
The world number four admitted: “Yeah, I think more so internally. I guess the stakes are technically the same. I don’t know, I realise that the defending means nothing in a way. Like, each year is a new opportunity and new chance for anyone to win. Obviously, I hope it’s me.
How long will it take for Coco Gauff to complete the career Grand Slam?
“I don’t really look at it as defending anymore. I guess at the US Open I was like, I need to defend, defend. When you’re playing a tournament that you didn’t win, what is it called?
“Yeah, that’s why I just say like now it’s just another tournament. I won it last year. I’ll try again to do it this year. I’m not going to be able to defend every year. I’m not Rafa. Maybe one day (laughter).”
This was a far more upbeat conversation than the one she had earlier in the week, where Gauff threw her support behind players potentially boycotting the Grand Slams over a recent pay dispute.
How did Coco Gauff perform when defending her 2023 US Open title?
Gauff’s title defence at the 2024 US Open did not go as planned, but that was also arguably the most highly pressured situation she will ever find herself in.
Returning to her home Grand Slam, a run to the Round of 16 still represented a solid return, defeated only by an in-form Emma Navarro over three sets.
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Previously, she had blown away Varvara Gracheva and Tatjana Maria, before outlasting Elina Svitolina in an enthralling match.
Alas, Navarro was too good for her on the day, who went on to lose to the eventual champion, Aryna Sabalenka, in the semi-finals.
Who was the last woman to defend her Roland Garros title?
Whilst Gauff’s chances of defending her Roland Garros title seem slim, they are far from impossible.
After all, to discount the 21-year-old is ludicrous, given the quality and unmatched grit she possesses.
| Year | Champion | Finalist |
| 2025 | Coco Gauff | Aryna Sabalenka |
| 2024 | Iga Swiatek | Jasmine Paolini |
| 2023 | Iga Swiatek | Karolina Muchova |
| 2022 | Iga Swiatek | Coco Gauff |
| 2021 | Barbora Krejčíková | Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova |
| 2020 | Iga Swiatek | Sofia Kenin |
| 2019 | Ash Barty | Markéta Vondroušová |
| 2018 | Simona Halep | Sloane Stephens |
| 2017 | Jelena Ostapenko | Simona Halep |
| 2016 | Garbiñe Muguruza | Serena Williams |
She can look to one of her fellow competitors for inspiration too, with Iga Swiatek the last woman to defend the French Open title.
The Polish superstar and former world number one did so with alarming ease over a three-year period, winning the event from 2022 to 2024.
Before that, the Roland Garros women’s title had not been defended since Justine Henin also won three in a row from 2005 to 2007.
