{"id":136229,"date":"2025-05-27T15:17:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T15:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/136229\/"},"modified":"2025-05-27T15:17:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T15:17:10","slug":"i-was-roommates-with-coco-gauff-and-frances-tiafoe-is-like-my-brother-now-im-into-french-open-third-round-after-big-upset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/136229\/","title":{"rendered":"I was roommates with Coco Gauff and Frances Tiafoe is like my &#8216;brother&#8217; &#8211; now I&#8217;m into French Open third round after big upset"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Hailey Baptiste is the latest American tennis star to win their first-round match at the French Open.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old is into the second round at Roland Garros after overcoming Beatriz Haddad Maia 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Baptiste is in the second round of the French Open\" height=\"636\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"GETTY\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cb_38773_ma4rbvjs-JS998530219-e1748347926344.jpg\" data-caption=\"Baptiste is in the second round of the French Open\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cb_38773_ma4rbvjs-JS998530219-e1748347926344.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>Baptiste is in the second round of the French OpenCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n<p>Brazilian Haddad Maia is the world No.23, so expectations were low heading into the contest for Baptiste, who is ranked 70th in contrast.<\/p>\n<p>However, the American rallied from a set down to dominate the next two, dropping just four games as she served up eight aces and won seven games in a row at one point.<\/p>\n<p>It was an impressive performance from a player who&#8217;s making only her third appearance at the <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/french-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">French Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>She&#8217;s never got past the second round in the French capital, and with qualifier Nao Hibino up next, 2025&#8217;s tournament provides the best opportunity for her to mark a career first.<\/p>\n<p>Despite not making massive inroads at Grand Slams, Baptiste has been on the tour for a while.<\/p>\n<p>She made her professional debut back in 2019 and has since appeared in seven Grand Slam main draws, although never got past the second round.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the American tennis scene, she&#8217;s a popular face, not least to the big US stars like <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/coco-gauff\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Coco Gauff<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/frances-tiafoe\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Frances Tiafoe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gauff and Baptiste share a close friendship that extends back to when they were children.<\/p>\n<p>The 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/us-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">US Open<\/a> champion opened up on her relationship with Baptiste when the pair clashed back in 2023 at the Washington Open.<\/p>\n<p>Gauff beat her compatriot 6-1, 6-4, and they shared a warm embrace at the net following the match.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Hailey Baptiste and Coco Gauff were once roommates and are close friends\" height=\"640\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"GETTY\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/rlc18235_i4em1jjf-JS998530242.jpg\" data-caption=\"Hailey Baptiste and Coco Gauff were once roommates and are close friends\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/rlc18235_i4em1jjf-JS998530242.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>Hailey Baptiste and Coco Gauff were once roommates and are close friendsCredit: GETTY<a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Baptiste will look to reach the third round of the French Open for the first time in her career\" height=\"640\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"GETTY\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/052725_tennis_03183-JS998530230.jpg\" data-caption=\"Baptiste will look to reach the third round of the French Open for the first time in her career\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/052725_tennis_03183-JS998530230.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>Baptiste will look to reach the third round of the French Open for the first time in her careerCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Playing Hailey, a friend, known her for a long time,&#8221; Gauff said at the time of her win.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was really cool to play her in front of her hometown, and hopefully we have many more battles in the future.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We practiced together so many times. Camps together. We even shared a room together in Palm Springs for, like, three weeks or two weeks. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We were roommates. Yeah, we know each other very well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Baptiste joins fellow <a aria-label=\"American Robin Montgomery in the second round, another close friend of Gauff (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/tennis\/3237209\/robin-montgomery-french-open-us-coco-guaff-aryna-sabalenka\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">American Robin Montgomery in the second round at Roland Garros, another close friend of Gauff<\/a> who&#8217;s making waves at the French Open.<\/p>\n<p>Although for Baptiste, the bonds with the top American talents don&#8217;t stop there, as she&#8217;s opened up on her friendship with Tiafoe.<\/p>\n<p>Tiafoe and Baptiste are childhood friends and grew up together in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n<p>Coco Gauff shows her rise in tennis from 15-years-old and reveals how she was heavily inspired by Serena Williams <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s always a huge inspiration to me and he&#8217;s like a brother to me,&#8221; Baptiste said. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We went to school together and when I was in fourth grade I&#8217;d be with him all day and hang out with him every weekend, and we&#8217;re still close to this day. Same with his brother, his parents, they&#8217;re basically my family.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To see that, of course it&#8217;s possible because I&#8217;ve grown up with him and he&#8217;s right there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Baptiste still has a way to go in her young tennis career, but in Tiafoe and Gauff, she has the very best to lean on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hailey Baptiste is the latest American tennis star to win their first-round match at the French Open. The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[58920,10088,4723,51452,6740,58924,29384,58921,58925,58926,59625,59629,59630,59626,59627,59628,9465,79,1068,16,15,10089,5069],"class_list":{"0":"post-136229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-american-french-open-players","9":"tag-american-tennis","10":"tag-australian-open","11":"tag-beatriz-haddad-maia","12":"tag-coco-gauff","13":"tag-coco-gauff-result","14":"tag-frances-tiafoe","15":"tag-french-open-draw","16":"tag-french-open-results","17":"tag-french-open-start-date","18":"tag-hailey-baptiste","19":"tag-hailey-baptiste-age","20":"tag-hailey-baptiste-coco-gauff","21":"tag-hailey-baptiste-french-open","22":"tag-hailey-baptiste-next-match","23":"tag-hailey-baptiste-schedule","24":"tag-schedule","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-tennis","27":"tag-uk","28":"tag-united-kingdom","29":"tag-us-tennis","30":"tag-wta"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}