American tennis star Coco Gauff explained what led to her getting into a “mini car accident” while on her way to the French Open on Tuesday.
Gauff, who is the defending champion at Roland Garros, said she was “just happy to be here in one piece” while recounting the incident during an appearance on TNT.
“We kind of got into a mini car accident on my way to the sight today,” a laughing Gauff said after defeating fellow American Taylor Townsend in the opening round in Paris.
“So there was this pole thing and it’s supposed to go down and the police told [the driver] to go and the pole was still there so we ran into it… You felt a little impact. I spilt my juice all over the car,” Gauff said.
“And I was like we can keep going and I walked out of the car and the car was not drivable … so ended up taking a taxi… and we took a tournament car to the tournament.”
Gauff, who was unharmed in the accident, confirmed she was not behind the wheel.
The 22-year-old found a silver lining in the situation.
“I feel like it’s a good omen, maybe, everything happening in my first round … and then the retirement happened,” Gauff said, referring to the start of her match being pushed up earlier than expected when a retirement occurred in another match on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
“And then right before I went onto court, my dress got stuck, so my physio was in the bathroom trying to help me take it off.
“It was an eventful day. But I feel like whenever that happens, it lets you not think about the match too much. I’m just happy to be here in one piece.”
Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s French Open final.
The New Balance athlete will face Egypt’s Mayar Sherif in the second round Thursday.
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