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4 min read | |
Coco Gauff wins French Open with thrilling comeback against world No. 1 | |
Aryna Sabalenka in women’s final | |
By Jamie Barton, CNN | |
Updated: | |
6:56 PM EDT, Sat June 7, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
claimed her second career grand slam singles title on Saturday, coming | |
from behind to defeat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in | |
a thrilling women’s final. | |
The 21-year-old’s win, a repeat of her 2023 US Open victory, means | |
she is the first American since Serena Williams in 2015 to triumph at | |
Roland Garros, and only the third this century. | |
She is the also the youngest American to lift the Suzanne-Lenglen Cup | |
since Serena Williams did so in 2002. | |
“I was going through a lot of things when I lost this final three | |
years ago … so it means a lot to be here,” Gauff said afterward, | |
becoming emotional in her post-match interview as she remembered her | |
comprehensive loss to Iga Świątek in 2022. | |
It looked in the early stages as if Gauff would be thwarted again, as | |
if Sabalenka would have too much for her opponent after a combination | |
of supreme power and some well-placed drop shots ensured she took an | |
early lead. | |
But, having broken Gauff twice and finding herself 4-1 and 40-0 up, | |
Sabalenka suddenly began struggling with her serve in the windy | |
conditions on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Five consecutive points for | |
Gauff, two of which came from Sabalenka’s double faults, meant the | |
American was back in the contest. | |
Now, it was Sabalenka’s turn to look frustrated, the Belarusian’s | |
serve was broken again in an eight-minute eighth game to tie the set at | |
4-4. It was the first of a remarkable five-game stretch which saw | |
neither player able to hold their serve, including a marathon 12-minute | |
10th game in which Gauff survived two set points. | |
The resulting tiebreak, however, provided the stage for Sabalenka to | |
display impressive tenacity, fighting back from 3-0 to win a genuinely | |
thrilling set that neither player deserved to lose. | |
It would have been easy for the American to let her head drop having | |
given so much in the 77-minute first set, but Sabalenka had made 32 | |
unforced to errors to Gauff’s 16 – an indication that the | |
Belarusian was not at her blistering best. | |
That fact was made clearer in the second set when Gauff turned the tide | |
once again and broke Sabalenka twice to race into a 4-1 lead. The | |
27-year-old broke back to make it 4-2, but Gauff immediately replied | |
with a break of her own in a game which saw Sabalenka make her 50th | |
unforced error. | |
One game later, Gauff had rounded out a set which lasted almost 45 | |
minutes shorter than the first. | |
The American had the momentum and she was not about to relinquish it | |
this time. Sabalenka let out a yell of satisfaction as she held her | |
serve in the first game of the third set, but she could not repeat the | |
feat at the second time of asking, double faulting to hand Gauff a 2-1 | |
lead. | |
The 21-year-old had the chance to extend her lead to 4-1, but could not | |
capitalize on two break points. It looked initially as though it would | |
prove costly, with Sabalenka breaking back to level the scoring. | |
But this topsy-turvy game still had time for one more twist – Gauff | |
replying with her own break to re-establish a lead that, finally, would | |
not be overturned. | |
In the final game, the American survived a break point and, after | |
Sabalenka’s backhand return dropped wide, secured her second grand | |
slam title. Overcome in the moment of victory, she dropped to the floor | |
before getting up, with the Roland Garros clay emblazoned on her | |
forehead, and heading over to hug her mother. | |
“I want to thank my team. You guys have been a joy to be around … | |
you are always pushing me. 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 | |
and I think that’s what makes me play better on court,” she said | |
afterward. | |
“I would like to thank my parents – from washing my clothes to | |
keeping me grounded … you guys probably believe in me more than I | |
believe in myself. To my brothers at home, you guys are the reason I do | |
this and inspire me more than anything,” Gauff added. | |
“I didn’t think I could do it but I’m going to quote Tyler, The | |
Creator who said ‘If I ever told you I had a doubt inside me, I must | |
be lying’. I’ll leave you with that.” | |
On the other hand, despite becoming the first player since Serena | |
Williams in 2016 to reach three consecutive Grand Slam finals, | |
Sabalenka has now lost the last two to American opponents, having been | |
upset by Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January. | |
The Belarusian was clearly distraught at the result and could not hold | |
back the tears during her on-court interview. | |
“Obviously, guys, this one hurts so much,” the world No. 1 said | |
after a long pause with the microphone in her hand. “Especially after | |
such a tough two weeks playing great tennis and in these terrible | |
conditions. (To) show such terrible tennis in the final, that really | |
hurts.” | |
“Coco, congrats,” she added. “In these tough conditions, you were | |
a better player than me. Well done on a great two weeks, and congrats | |
on a second grand slam.” | |
This story has been updated with additional developments. | |
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