Tennis
ESPN News Services 3y

Coco Gauff, Victoria Azarenka lose in second round of French Open

WTA, Tennis

PARIS -- American teenager Coco Gauff had her French Open debut end in the second round Wednesday after she double-faulted 19 times in a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 loss to 159th-ranked qualifier Martina Trevisan.

Gauff double-faulted twice in the last game of the 2-hour, 11-minute match.

Gauff, 16, has reached at least the third round at the other three major tournaments.

For Trevisan, a 26-year-old from Italy, this was her first victory in a Grand Slam match played to its conclusion.

Trevisan lost in the first round at the Australian Open this year in her first appearance at a major, then advanced Sunday at Roland Garros when her opponent, Camila Giorgi, retired in the second set because of an injury.

Against Gauff, Trevisan kept yelling, "Yes!" and "Let's go!" in Italian between points, then let out a high-pitched scream when the match ended.

Also making an early exit at Roland Garros was US Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka. The No. 10 seed fell to 161st-ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-2.

Azarenka's exit means all four women who reached the semifinals in New York earlier this month already are gone in Paris.

Serena Williams withdrew from the French Open because of an injured Achilles tendon, Jennifer Brady lost in the first round at Roland Garros, and US Open champion Naomi Osaka did not make the trip to France.

Schmiedlova had lost 13 consecutive Grand Slam matches in a streak dating to 2015 until beating Venus Williams in the first round this week.

Azarenka is a former No. 1 and a two-time champion at the Australian Open.

Kiki Bertens left the court in a wheelchair following a drama-filled 7-6 (5), 3-6, 9-7 win over 2012 finalist Sara Errani in the second round of the French Open.

Apparently struggling with cramps, the fifth-seeded Bertens was treated by a trainer both during and after the 3 hour, 11 minute match.

Afterward, Errani accused Bertens of faking her pain.

Bertens saved a match point with a forehand cross-court winner when Errani served for the match at 6-5 in the third.

Struggling with her ball toss, Errani often resorted to underhand serves. She had 14 double-faults.

In another match, Elina Svitolina, the No. 3 seed, beat Renata Zarazua 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 to reach the third round.

Svitolina's match was one of the few interrupted by a sonic boom caused by a fighter plane breaking the sound barrier.

Before the cause of the loud bang was known, there was a brief moment of panic outside the grounds of Roland Garros in western Paris as police officers gave instructions to cordon off the area with the possibility of evacuating people. A few security officials sprinted down Boulevard d'Auteuil -- a long road leading to one of the main entry gates -- shouting into two-way radios.

A few minutes later, however, police revealed the cause and officials on the grounds were told of the "false alert."

"I was a bit worried because I thought something bad happened. I looked at the chair umpire, he was little bit shocked as well," Svitolina said after her match. "You never know these days what can happen, what's going on. It was very strange, very loud, like something big dropped."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

^ Back to Top ^