Coco Gauff will start her French Open title defense by trying not to play against herself‎

PARIS — Don’t watch Coco Gauff’s shots during her first-round match at the French Open against Taylor Townsend to figure out how her day is going. Watch her eyes. Watch her shoulders. Watch her racket. She hit herself on the head with it in the middle of the Italian Open final against Elina Svitolina two Sundays ago. “It didn’t hurt,” she said Friday in a news conference, as she prepares to defend her title at Roland Garros. “I had big braids.” It’s been that kind of nine months for Gauff, a two