Coco Gauff opens French Open defense vs. fellow American

Field Level Media
21 May 2026, 20:49 GMT+10

(Photo credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images)

Defending French Open champion and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff will face fellow American Taylor Townsend in the first round at Roland Garros.

The draw was announced on Thursday for the French Open, the clay-court major that begins on Sunday in Paris and runs through June 7.

Gauff, 22, is seeking her third Grand Slam trophy (2023 U.S. Open) and is attempting to become just the third woman this century to successfully defend her French Open title: Justine Henin (2005-07) and Iga Swiatek (2022-24).

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who lost to Gauff in three sets in last year's final at Roland Garros, earned the top seed and will face Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the first round. Sabalenka has won four Grand Slam titles, two each at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.

No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who won this year's first major in Melbourne, opens play against Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia.

Poland's Swiatek is seeded third and looking for her fifth French Open title and seventh Grand Slam. She will take on Emerson Jones of Australia in the opening round.

Americans Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova are seeded fifth and sixth, respectively, and are followed in the top 10 by Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, Russia's Mirra Andreeva, Canada's Victoria Mboko and Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.

--Field Level Media

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