Coco Gauff began her defence of her French Open title by despatching fellow American Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-0 at Roland Garros on Tuesday. Townsend, who had beaten Gauff in their only previous meeting in 2019, broke in the opening game. The 30-year-old held on her first two service games, but from 3-1 up in the opener, won only one more game. That was at 3-5 down in the first, when Townsend saved a set point on Gauff's serve but dropped serve immediately to lose the set and that ended her resistance.