Coco Gauff left the Rome Open with more than a clay-court tuneup and a laugh about Frances Tiafoe’s sunglasses. She also came away with a gelato bill she says the group had to split after a stop with Jessica Pegula and Tiafoe during the tournament in Italy.
Gauff, speaking on Jessica Pegula’s Player’s Box podcast, said the group paid for its gelato after Pegula invited them out. “We all had to pay for our gelato. She asked us, and I didn’t give her the idea, but I gave her ideas for the player box,” Gauff said, adding, “I was like, you’re not going to pay, Big Mama?” She also joked that the episode would draw plenty of attention: “I think that video is going to be one of their most viewed videos, so I feel like we should get something out of it.”
The light banter landed during the Rome Open, part of the European clay swing that runs through Madrid and into Paris. Gauff is using that stretch to sharpen her game ahead of the French Open, where she said she is the defending champion after winning the 2025 French Open title. She said she had seven double faults in a recent match against Tereza Valentova and is fine-tuning her clay-court rhythm before heading to Roland-Garros.
That preparation has a familiar backdrop for the world No. 3. Gauff said she made finals in Madrid and Rome last season, but also that she does not read too much into how the build-up looks once she gets to Paris. “At Roland-Garros, I can usually do well regardless of how the momentum is going into it,” she said. “I put less weight on these tournaments, but it feels great to enter after making a final.”
Her French Open confidence also comes from experience. Gauff said she learned from going into the US Open as defending champion after her 2023 breakthrough, and she hopes to carry a looser mindset into Paris this year. “I learned from going into the US Open as defending champion, so I’m hoping this time I’m a little bit more chill,” she said.
Before the tournament talk, though, there was Tiafoe, a restaurant exit and a pair of shades. Gauff said, “We were in a restaurant and he walked out and put on shades.” She added, “I was like, why are you putting on sunglasses? I make fun of him because he thinks he’s like LeBron. But it’s funny, so I think it works for him.” The joke was delivered with the easy tone of a player who knows the camera will probably keep rolling long after the match points are over.
For Gauff, the comedy is a pause between tournaments, not a distraction from the grind. The Rome week gave her a public reminder that the clay season is as much about staying loose as it is about form, and the next test arrives in Paris, where the defending champion will try to make the timing matter again.
