PARIS — Drawing on the painful memory of a straight-sets loss three years ago in her first French Open final gave Coco Gauff just the motivation she needed to win a singles championship at the clay-court major tournament for the first time.
The 21-year-old American defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday for her second Grand Slam singles title, two years after winning the hard-court U.S. Open against the same opponent. Gauff actually owns two French Open trophies now; in 2024, she teamed up with Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic to win the women’s doubles title at Roland-Garros, but Gauff has not taken part in doubles at the past three majors.
Gauff, who managed to handle the elements and the momentum swings Saturday better than her 27-year-old opponent from Belarus, said the 2023 U.S. Open victory — by a score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Sabalenka — “was more emotional, but this one was harder. I knew it was going to be about willpower and mental (strength).”
The victory put to rest her bad memories of the 2022 women’s singles final in Paris, when an 18-year-old Gauff felt overwhelmed even before stepping onto Court Philippe-Chatrier for what turned out to be a 6-1, 6-3 loss to Iga Swiatek.
“It was a tough time, I was doubting myself,” recalled Gauff, who had never been past the quarterfinals in singles at any major until then. “I was crying before the match, and so nervous, literally couldn’t breathe and stuff.”