Gauff beats Sabalenka to win French Open title

In a rollercoaster final against world number one Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff fought back to claim her first French Open singles title.

After a tense fight between the WTA Tour’s two leading players in tense circumstances, American second seed Gauff claimed a 6-7 (15-7), 6-2, and 6-4 victory.

Gauff won her second Grand Slam singles title in 2023, also by beating Sabalenka of Belarus. This is her second consecutive Grand Slam success.

You don’t want to be happy with just that one, said 21-year-old Gauff, “I think this Grand Slam win was harder than the first.”

Gauff made it through a difficult first half, where she eventually found her groove and gained from Sabalenka’s enormous mistakes.

“This hurts a lot,” he said. Coco, who was also competing for her first Roland Garros title, congratulated her on being a better player than I did.

In the opening two sets, a stiff breeze wreaked havoc with serve, causing the pair to exchange 12 breaks in a fun if not top-notch affair.

Gauff, who lost in the 2022 final, stayed on her nerve and won’t let up until the final third set, moving on to a breakup.

Before capturing her second championship point, Sabalenka pushed a forehand wide, falling to the ground on her back. She had to survive another break point.

Gauff’s previous French Open singles performance as a teenager resulted in her sobbing on her chair while covering her head with a towel.

She vowed to come back stronger after losing to Iga Swiatek, but she did so in a defining way.

When I left this place three years ago, I was going through a lot of things, Gauff said.

“I’m just relieved to be back here. I was having a lot of dark thoughts.

After achieving the potential that winning in New York had promised, Gauff made it three years later to compete in the final as a Grand Slam champion.

She arrived in Paris viewed as a sounder bet than defending champion Swiatek thanks to a successful clay-court swing that brought her to the Madrid and Rome finals.

“Three finals… The most important win, in my opinion, is what matters, Gauff said.

Only Sabalenka, who won the title in Madrid, had performed better, so it was surprising that the top two seeds met once more with the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen in play.

Although the challenging circumstances prevented the women from playing their best tennis, Gauff showed unwavering resolve and determination to win.

Over the past three years, Sabalenka has maintained a consistency unmatched on all surfaces.

She has improved her game to become a force on grass and clay after excelling on hard courts.

Sabalenka became the first player to reach the quarter-finals of 10 Grand Slams in a row since Serena Williams, an American legend, in 2017.

But she was sorely unable to land her first major on the slower clay surface.

At the Australian Open and US Open, she had three previous major victories on quicker hard courts.

After winning the title of best player, Sabalenka cried out in tears and thanked her teammates for “playing a terrible final.”

Sabalenka aggressively and confidently moved a double break ahead, just like she did in her semi-final victory over Swiatek, who is the defending champion.

A point away from a 5-1 lead, Gauff quickly lost her dominance.

Sabalenka continued to be enthralled and regularly chastised herself despite coming back from a 5-3 deficit in the tie-break.