*A routine trip to Roland-Garros took an unexpected turn for Coco Gauff, who revealed she was involved in a “mini car accident” shortly before beginning her French Open title defense in Paris.
Despite the disruption, Gauff still delivered a dominant opening performance May 26, defeating fellow American Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-0 in the first round, PEOPLE reports.
The incident occurred while Gauff was traveling to the venue. She described the moment in a live interview with TNT, explaining that the impact was minor but left her vehicle unable to continue. “You felt a little impact, I spilled my juice all over the car,” she said. “I was like, ‘We can keep going,’ then I walk out of the car, and the car was not driveable.”
Coco Gauff says she was in a car accident on the way to her #RolandGarros match today ?
Everyone is ok, but Coco spilt her juice ? pic.twitter.com/UWp4f46GlJ
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) May 26, 2026
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While the situation caused a brief delay, there were no reported injuries, and Gauff appeared to take the disruption in stride. She suggested it may have helped her approach competition with a clearer mindset.
“I feel like it’s a good omen maybe? It was an eventful day. I feel like whenever that happens it lets you not think about the match too much … [it’s] more about I’m just happy to be here in one piece,” she said.
Gauff’s win over Townsend comes weeks after she said she was dealing with “personal things off the court,” following an emotional moment in which she hit herself on the head with her racket twice during a match against Chris Eubanks before coming back to win in three sets.
“Just personal things off court that I’m just trying to get through, so… Yeah, but then you also remember how much fun you have. I think my regret today was not enjoying the battle, for sure,” she said during a post-match press conference.
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