French Open, Coco Gauff Becomes First American Woman Since Serena Williams To Win French Open
Coco Gauff roared back from a set down to capture her first Roland Garros title and become the first American woman in a decade to win the French Open.
No. 2 Gauff overcame a first-set deficit to beat No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 in windy conditions to become the first American woman since Serena Williams in 2015 to win the title in Paris. At 21, she is also the youngest champion since Serena in 2002.
Gauff became the seventh American woman to win Roland Garros in the Open Era. She won her second major following the 2023 U.S. Open, where she also overcame a one-set deficit to beat Sabalenka. Gauff is the second straight American woman to win a major after Madison Keys also defeated Sabalenka in three sets to win the Australian Open.
“I didn’t think honestly that I could do it,” Gauff said on court. “But I’m gonna quote Tyler the Creator right here. He said ‘If I ever told you I had a doubt inside me, I must be lying.’ I’d like to leave that with you guys. I think I was lying to myself and I definitely could do it. Shout out to Tyler.”
Gauff had previously lost in the 2022 French Open final in straight sets to Iga Swiatek.
Gauff takes home nearly $2.9 million and Sabalenka $1.4 million.
“I’d like to thank my parents,” Gauff said. “You guys have done a lot for me, from washing my clothes to keeping me grounded and giving me the belief that I can do it. You guys probably believe in me more than I do myself. I really appreciate and love you guys. To my brothers at home, you’re the reason I do this. You inspire me more than you know. To all my family at home, thank you.”
“I’d like to thank my team. 3 finals, but I got the most important one. I guess that’s all that matters. You guys have been a joy to be around and you guys are individually truly great people. Pushing me and also making it fun. I know sometimes I’m not the easiest and I can be so serious. But you remind me there’s more to life than tennis. That’s what makes me play better on the court. Thank you individually, to all of you. I appreciate you guys so much.”
In the decisive third set, Sabalenka double-faulted to give Gauff a break for 2-1.
Gauff led 3-1 and had break points for 4-1 but Sabalenka held and then broke for 3-all.
Gauff roared back and broke at love for 4-3 with a backhand crosscourt winner. Sabalenka sailed a backhand long as Gauff seized a 5-3 lead.
Serving at 5-4, 30-all, Gauff crushed a forehand crosscourt winner to earn match point. But Sabalenka hit the baseline with a forehand that staved it off.
Sabalenka had a break point, but hit a forehand wide.
On the second match point, Sabalenka hit a backhand wide and Gauff felt to her back on the court.
In the aftermath of the match, Sabalenka did not give full credit to Gauff and instead blamed her own play on a day when she made 70 unforced errors, and said “it was the worst final I have ever played.”
“She won the match not because she played incredible, just because I made all those mistakes,” Sabalenka said.
“That hurts,” Sabalenka added. “Especially when you’ve been playing really great tennis during the whole week, when you’ve been playing against a lot of tough opponents, Olympic champion [Qinwen Zheng], Iga and then you go out, and you play really bad.
“Like I think Iga… I think she would go out today and she would get the win. It just hurts. Honestly hurts. I’ve been playing really well, and then in the last match, go out there and perform like I did, that’s hurt.”
“No shade to Iga or anything, but last time I played her I won in straight sets. I don’t think that’s a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen.
“The way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favourite to win. So I think she was the best person that I could have played in the final.
“Her being No. 1 in the world was the best person to play, so I think I got the hardest matchup just if you go off stats alone.”
Sabalenka’s comments did not go over well with many in the tennis world.
“Ugh… the tennis was not that bad,” Stubbs wrote online. “You made a bazillion unforced errors because you’re playing against the fastest players in the world who is as gutsy as hell and had better composure then u!!”
In a first set that featured eight service breaks, Sabalenka roared out to a 4-1, 40- lead and appeared to be cruising. She won 16 of the first 22 points.
Sabalenka stuck a forehand volley winner to win the first set in the tiebreak despite committing 32 unforced errors.
In the second set, Gauff raced out to a quick lead, winning 10 straight points to go up 2-0. She broke again for 5-2 and then served it, evening the match at one set apiece with a forehand overhead winner.
Asked how she would respond to losing the match, Sabalenka said: “I already have a flight booked to Mykonos. Alcohol. Sugar. I just need a couple days to completely forget about this crazy world and crazy… if I could swear right now I would.. this crazy thing that happened today. I think everyone understands. I’m just trying to be very polite right now. There is no other word that could describe what just happened today on the court. But yeah… Tequila. Gummy bears. And I don’t know, swimming. Being like a tourist for a couple days.”
