Will Austria’s No. 1 knock Gauff out?

From a German-speaking perspective, we can look forward to a great match in the women’s singles at the 2026 French Open on Saturday. Defending champion Coco Gauff will face the current top Austrian tennis player, Anastasia Potapova.

The Russian-born player, who has been representing Austria on courts around the world since 2025, is undoubtedly in the strongest phase of her career; she recently made a sensational run to the semifinals at the WTA Masters 1000 in Madrid and can definitely call clay her favorite surface on the tour. Could a bet on the 25-year-old underdog pay off in the Gauff vs. Potapova matchup in the third round of Roland Garros?

While a potential upset by the world No. 24 seems unlikely, , but it must be noted that the American Cori Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion and the current No. 4 in the women’s field, awaits her. Although Gauff, at 22, still belongs to the young guard in the WTA circuit, she is already in the main draw of the clay-court Grand Slam in the French capital for the seventh time (!).

Even more impressive: Over the past five years, the right-hander from Florida has consistently reached at least the quarterfinals. Gauff has reached the final twice; last year, she ultimately secured a three-set victory over Aryna Sabalenka, marking one of her greatest triumphs to date.

The fact that the top bookmakers’ predictions for this weekend’s match between Gauff and Potapova once again favor the 22-year-old—who narrowly lost a high-level final against Elina Svitolina in three sets at the last warm-up tournament in Rome—is supported by her performance so far in this tournament. Against her compatriot Townsend and Maya Sherif, she conceded a total of just nine games across the first two rounds and celebrated two straight-set victories. She thus improved her 2026 clay-court record to nine wins out of twelve matches.

Nevertheless, I’m not averse to at least considering the betting odds on the Russian playing for Austria ahead of the Gauff vs. Potapova match. The fact is that the young American is prone to occasional minor slip-ups in the form of dropped sets.

On top of that, Potapova has won 16 of her 20 matches on clay this season. Among others, she has also defeated world-class players such as Rybakina, Ostapenko, and Muchova. After a commanding opening match against Maya Joint (6-1, 6-2), the 25-year-old recently had to go the distance against Katie Boulter, though her victory was never in serious jeopardy (5-7, 6-4, 6-2).

Given her strong form and her unorthodox playing style, which relies on a solid first serve, I think it’s entirely realistic that the Austrian No. 1 could steal at least one set from one of the co-favorites for the title.

Coco Gauff – Anastasia Potapova Head-to-Head Record

This will be the fifth time the two players have faced each other on the WTA Tour. While Cori Gauff won the first two matches in 2019 and 2021, the last two matches went to Anastasia Potapova. In 2023, she secured a 2-1 set victory on hard court in Miami, and in the same year in Stuttgart on clay, the new Austrian even won in straight sets, 2-0.

Potapova has thus shown that she can certainly pose problems for her opponent, who is three years her junior, although two years have passed since their last meeting, so this has only a marginal impact on the Gauff vs. Potapova odds.

Coco Gauff – Anastasia Potapova Prediction

Although Coco Gauff enters the match against Anastasia Potapova as the favorite, there are good reasons to expect a hard-fought match that goes the full distance.

Gauff, the defending champion at Roland Garros, has looked strong in Paris so far and won her first two matches convincingly; however, the American has experienced repeated minor slumps and set losses in recent months—even against second-tier opponents.

At the same time, Potapova is in the best form of her career and feels particularly at home on clay. The Russian, who plays for Austria, has won 16 of her 20 clay-court matches this season and has already defeated top players like Elena Rybakina and Karolína Muchová. On top of that, she has won the last two head-to-head matches against Gauff.

Given her strong form and unorthodox playing style, it seems realistic that Potapova could win a set—which is why much points to a three-set match.