"Bleep the final, it's in the past": Gauff looking forward instead of back after opening French Open campaign

American tennis phenom Coco Gauff is determined to focus on the present and leave memories of her runner-up finish last year at Roland Garros behind her.

The 19-year old fell to a red-hot Iga Swiatek in straight sets in the 2022 final, but Gauff is ready to resume her quest to capture her maiden Grand Slam trophy.

Following her opening round three-set victory over Rebeka Masarova on Tuesday, the sixth seed revealed she was not looking back to her performance from last year's final.

"Honestly, I can't say this word but I was like bleep the final," said Gauff. "It's 2023, it's in the past so I'm not worried about that. And then the second set, same thing. I mean the first set, bleep the first set. It's over.

“So, I just told myself I had a bad game in the first set, a couple of great chances. So I knew that I was going to be able to turn it around, I just had to be aggressive on those moments."

Although Gauff admitted she was not as she dropped the first set against Masarova, she stated she was very confident in her abilities on clay.

"I mean, even today, I feel like there are certain aspects of my game that I wasn't playing my best," she added. "But I know that I'm confident on the surface and in these conditions and I think that's what I relied on today.”