7 WTA players who could derail Coco Gauff’s French Open title defense

Coco Gauff has done something that only the very best tennis players manage to do. At 22, she is the defending French Open champion and the player every other woman in the draw is trying to figure out. Her 2025 title run was not a fluke or a lucky draw. She beat the best players in the world across two weeks, closed it out against Aryna Sabalenka in the final, and did it all without looking like she was playing at her absolute limit. That is what made it so intimidating.

But the 2026 field is different. Iga Swiatek has been quietly building back toward her best clay-court form after a difficult stretch. Sabalenka arrived in Paris as the world number one, motivated by a final that she has described as the worst match of her career. Rome champion Elina Svitolina just beat Swiatek in the Italian Open semifinals and is playing the best clay court tennis of her life. Elena Rybakina is seeded second and is the one player in the draw who wins ugly and wins anyway. Jelena Ostapenko and Marta Kostyuk bring unpredictability and firepower that no defending champion can afford to take lightly. And Mirra Andreeva is 19 years old and scared of nobody.

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Gauff can win this tournament again. The talent is there, and so is the confidence that comes with having already done it. But the margin for error in 2026 is thinner than it was twelve months ago, and at least seven players have a credible, specific case for why they could be the one to end her Paris reign before the final is even reached.

Iga Swiatek

Swiatek is the most dangerous player on clay in the history of women’s tennis and her case needs no elaboration. She is seeded third, has won Roland Garros four times, and owns a head-to-head record over Gauff that includes multiple brutal straight-set dismissals at this exact tournament. Her 2026 clay season has been inconsistent, including a retirement against Ann Li due to illness, but she won in Rome before the tournament and arrived in Paris with momentum. When Swiatek is right on this surface, there is no one in the world who can beat her, including Gauff.

Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka is the world number one and the top seed, and she arrived at Roland Garros as the favorite despite losing to Gauff in last year’s final. Her clay season has been mixed, reaching the quarterfinal in Madrid but falling early in Rome, and her own admission that Swiatek would have beaten Gauff had she won their semifinal last year is a reminder of how close the margins were. She hits the ball harder than anyone else in the draw, and if she finds her best tennis in the second week, Gauff will need to play flawlessly to survive.

Elina Svitolina

Svitolina won in Rome the week before Roland Garros began, beating three top contenders, including Swiatek in the semifinals, which is about as good a form guide as anyone could ask for heading into a Grand Slam. She has never reached the Roland Garros semifinals, but the 2026 clay season suggests that ceiling is no longer accurate. Her head-to-head with Swiatek now sits at 3-4 after winning their last two meetings, and Gauff has never faced a Svitolina playing at this level.

Elena Rybakina

Rybakina is seeded second and is the most underrated threat in the entire draw. Her serve is the most difficult to read on tour, her backhand is a genuine weapon on clay, and she has the composure to win big points in big moments without showing any emotion whatsoever. Her path to a potential semifinal includes Mirra Andreeva and potentially Swiatek, which is a gauntlet, but if she gets through, she has the game to beat anyone left standing.

Jelena Ostapenko

Ostapenko is the wildcard that nobody wants to face in the second week at Roland Garros, the tournament she won in 2017 as an unseeded player by hitting through and past everyone she faced. Her flat, heavy ball-striking does not give opponents time to settle, and on a fast clay day at Philippe Chatrier, she is capable of dismantling any player in the draw inside 90 minutes. Gauff has handled big hitters before, but Ostapenko’s particular brand of aggression is unlike anything else on tour.

Marta Kostyuk

Kostyuk has been one of the most improved players on the WTA tour through the clay season and brings an aggressive baseline game that suits Roland Garros conditions. She hits the ball cleanly off both wings, does not give away free points, and has the mental edge that comes from having nothing to lose against a defending champion. If she gets a draw that keeps the top seeds away until the quarterfinals, she is the kind of player who could quietly become the biggest problem in the bracket.

Mirra Andreeva

Andreeva is 19 years old, reached the Roland Garros semifinals in 2024 at 17, and has positioned herself as one of the most dangerous players in the bottom half of the draw. She plays with the fearlessness that only very young players can sustain, retrieves everything, and has the shot-making to go toe-to-toe with any player in the world on clay. Power rankings from several outlets have her as high as fourth heading into the tournament, which reflects just how seriously the tennis world is taking her this fortnight.