Coco Gauff turned heartbreak into history on Saturday afternoon in Paris, winning her first-ever French Open singles title by dethroning world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
The 21-year-old American, seeded second, battled back from a set down to claim a thrilling 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4 victory in front of a raucous Court Philippe Chatrier crowd.
The win adds a second Grand Slam singles title to her collection—following her 2023 US Open triumph, also against Sabalenka—and makes her the first American woman to win at Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2015.
“I think this win was harder than the first because you don’t want to get satisfied with just that one,” Gauff said, visibly emotional after falling to the clay in celebration.
“I’m just glad to be back here. I was going through a lot of dark thoughts when I lost here three years ago. I was going through a lot of things when I lost here three years ago.”
Redemption on Red Clay
It was a full-circle moment for Gauff, who was left in tears after losing the 2022 French Open final to Iga Swiatek. This time, there were still tears—but they were tears of joy.
“This one means everything. Three finals… I guess I got the most important win—that’s all that matters,” Gauff said.
Facing swirling winds and a red-hot Sabalenka, Gauff found herself in early trouble, going down 1-4, 0-40 in the first set.
However, she clawed back using her trademark defensive grit and footspeed to force a tiebreak, which she narrowly lost.
Gauff roared back in the second set, dominating rallies and capitalizing on an avalanche of Sabalenka errors (70 unforced errors in total), the most in the women’s draw at this year’s tournament.
“Worst Final I Ever Played” – Sabalenka
A visibly distraught Sabalenka didn’t mince words post-match.
“It was honestly the worst tennis I’ve played in I don’t know how many months,” the 27-year-old Belarusian admitted.
“Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me.”
“It felt like a joke, honestly, like somebody from above was just there laughing saying, ‘let’s see if you can handle this,’” Sabalenka continued.
“Sometimes it felt like she was hitting the ball from the frame. Somehow magically the ball lands in the court.”
After taking the first set and leading the second 1-0, Sabalenka’s game unraveled, riddled with double faults, poor shot selection, and emotional implosions.
Her second straight Grand Slam final loss (after falling to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January) was made all the more painful by her squandered early dominance.
“I cannot go out there every time against her in the finals of the Grand Slam and play such terrible tennis,” she said, fighting back tears.
Despite the loss, Sabalenka leads the WTA Tour with 40 wins in 47 matches this year, including three titles.
But the demons of Grand Slam heartbreak continue to haunt her, especially on clay.
“I already have a flight booked to Mykonos,” she added.
“I just need a couple of days to completely forget about this crazy world [and] being like the tourist.”
