BBC

British number one Johanna Konta’s hopes of another deep run at the French Open were ended by American teenager Coco Gauff in the first round. Konta, 30, lost 6-3 6-3 to the talented 16-year-old, who put in an assured performance in her first Roland Garros main draw appearance.

A semi-finalist here in 2019, Konta was error-prone against a youngster who has been touted by many pundits as a future Grand Slam champion. Gauff faces Martina Trevisan next.

Konta’s was the third British singles defeat of the opening day in Paris after losses for Andy Murray and Dan Evans.

Gauff bounces back from US Open exit

Gauff has been one of the most promising players on tour following her runs to Wimbledon and the Australian Open fourth rounds in the past 15 months.

She put behind her a disappointing first-round exit from this month’s US Open to put in a confident display against Konta, who never found her stride under the floodlights on a near empty Court Suzanne Lenglen.

There were some nerves at times – with the American serving back-to-back double faults on set points and needing six set points before finally taking the opener when Konta sent a forehand service return into the net.

She then went an early break down in the second set before breaking Konta’s usually strong serve four times in a row as the Briton was let down by 41 unforced errors, including several on the drop-shot that had been so effective last year.

Konta briefly threatened to stage a fightback when she broke Gauff for 5-3 but then succumbed in the following game when she netted a backhand on the American’s second match point.