Defending champion Coco Gauff crashes out in third round of the French Open

Defending champion Coco Gauff crashed out in the third round of the French Open in a shock loss to Anastasia Potapova.

The American claimed her second grand slam title in Paris 12 months ago but has endured struggles since, in particular with her serve, and fell to a 4-6 7-6 (1) 6-4 defeat.

Gauff looked to have turned things around after a poor start but she was never comfortable and Russian-turned-Austrian Potapova, who has been one of the form players of the spring, clinched arguably the biggest win of her career.

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Gauff was left frustrated by a failure to seize the big moments but insisted it was not down to the pressure of being defending champion.

“I was nervous in my first round but, after that, I wasn’t really nervous going into today, and I wasn’t really thinking about it,” she said.

“I think that’s what’s more frustrating, because I felt like I learned a lot from that US Open experience and am a better player since then. I just don’t think I portrayed that today.”

Potapova almost dropped out of the top 100 three months ago but she arrived in Paris seeded 28th following a brilliant European clay swing and has maintained her momentum here.

The 25-year-old was 3-1 down in the final set but a match that featured 14 breaks of serve was always likely to have a final twist, and so it proved.

Potapova changed to representing Austria in December and, asked if that had contributed to her recent success, she said: “I think it’s also been a coincidence, which is nice, but also at the same time I do feel free, I feel better, I feel the support from Austrian people.

“For sure, it’s given me an extra boost of energy to fight for those wins.”

Fourth seed Gauff