Coco Gauff wins the French Open for the first time. The 21-year-old American beat Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus 6:7 (5:7), 6:2, 6:4 in the final in Paris.
For Gauff, the beautiful story of the 2023 US Open at Roland Garros was repeated. Just like almost two years ago in New York, she came from a set down in the final against Sabalenka to win the second Grand Slam title of her young career.
In the first final duel in Paris between the two top seeds in the tableau since 2013, it was nervousness that initially took control. Many unforced errors crept into the game of world number one Sabalenka and her closest rival Gauff in difficult, windy conditions. The Belarusian squandered a 4:1 lead and missed two opportunities to win the set on her own service before claiming the better end in the tie-break.
Despite leading the set, the match remained an emotional rollercoaster for Sabalenka. The two-time Australian Open winner and winner of the last US Open struggled with herself almost continuously and vented her frustration towards her coach Anton Dubrow. She never found the consistency she needed to win a major final. The 27-year-old had only lost one set in the first six matches in the two weeks at Roland Garros and responded to this with a 6-0 win in the deciding set of the semi-final against serial winner Iga Swiatek.
Coco Gauff, who had only won four games against Swiatek in the 2022 Roland Garros final, found her feet three years later after the ups and downs at the start of the final. Without playing outstandingly well, she got a grip on the match. The ratio of winners to unforced errors gives a good overview of the duel: 30:30 for Gauff and 37:70 for Sabalenka, who also ended the match with a mistake on her second and decisive match point after 2:38 hours.
