In a stunning turn of events, newly crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff faced a surprising defeat on her return to competitive tennis at the Berlin Open. The world No. 2, fresh off her second Grand Slam victory at Roland-Garros less than two weeks ago, fell to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu in a swift 6-3, 6-3 loss on Thursday.
Gauff, who received a bye into the second round of the grass-court tournament—a key warmup for Wimbledon—struggled significantly, committing 25 unforced errors and seven double faults. Wang, ranked No. 49, capitalized on Gauff’s errors with strong serving and aggressive returns, particularly on second serves, to secure the upset.
Reflecting on her performance, Wang expressed disbelief at her success against the 21-year-old American. “After I won the first set, I just told myself, ‘OK, let’s take a minute and enjoy this. I’m playing the French Open champion, and I won the first set,'” she said in her on-court interview. “No matter how the second and third go, I was like, ‘OK, let’s just enjoy it for a second.’ I’m really happy with how I played today.”
Wang’s victory sets up a quarterfinal clash with Paula Badosa as she continues her impressive run in Berlin.
Elsewhere at the tournament, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 7-6 (6) win over Rebeka Masarova in a match that resumed after being suspended Wednesday due to a slippery court. Sabalenka, who was defeated by Gauff in the French Open final and later apologized for “unprofessional” comments made after the match, will now face 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the next round.
The Berlin Open continues to deliver high-stakes drama as players fine-tune their grass-court game ahead of Wimbledon.