Coco Gauff secured her fifth straight trip to the French Open quarterfinals with a straight-set win on Monday, but she’s still facing jokes for forgetting her rackets earlier in the tournament.
The No. 2 seed, who won the 2023 U.S. Open and was runner-up in Paris in 2022, has been playfully teased by fellow American and Roland-Garros quarterfinalist Frances Tiafoe over the mishap.
Tiafoe dubbed the 21-year-old Gauff “Mrs. Mature,” to which she replied, “Playing tennis sometimes forces you to grow up faster. Maybe not him.”
Interestingly, it was Tiafoe himself who made the same mistake back in March at Indian Wells, showing up without rackets. He received plenty of teasing from fans and fellow players, including Gauff.
When Gauff realized she forgot her rackets before her first-round match at Court Philippe-Chatrier, Tiafoe didn’t hold back. “She was shaking her bag like it was an empty cookie jar. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ I’ll keep teasing her for a while. I’ve never seen a world No. 2 have nothing in her bag—that was wild,” Tiafoe said. He added that moments like this show everyone is human and makes the sport relatable. “That was a funny moment, especially since she tries to be ‘Mrs. Mature.’ I’m glad it happened to her. Hopefully, it happens again.”
Gauff admitted she had no comeback. “I told him, ‘From you, I expected it. But from me…’ I usually find a way to respond, even if I’m wrong. I don’t like losing arguments. But this time, I had nothing to say, especially since I teased him a lot for it. And then less than six months later, I did the same thing on a bigger stage. Lesson learned—hopefully it won’t happen again,” she said after defeating No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-0, 7-5 in the fourth round.
Regarding the “Mrs. Mature” nickname, which comes from how Gauff carries herself on and off court since her breakthrough at Wimbledon at age 15 and her first Grand Slam title at 19, she said she hears it often.
“I definitely felt more mature than some of my peers when I was younger. I don’t know why—I was always the first to class in school and even got a yellow on the behavior chart once, which felt like the worst day ever,” Gauff shared. “I take pride in being a good example, probably because I have two younger brothers and feel like I need to set that example.”
