Gauff repels Sabalenka in French Open final for 2nd career Grand Slam

Coco Gauff had answers for Aryna Sabalenka’s power and played a nimble defensive game to win her first French Open title and second career Grand Slam with a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 win Saturday over the World No. 1.

In the first French Open final in 12 years between the top two women’s seeds, Gauff remained composed while Sabalenka barked at her coach and struggled to hold serve.

Sabalenka overcame a 4-1 deficit in the tiebreaker to win a chaotic first set complicated by five total double faults and eight service breaks. Gauff cleaned up her serve and broke Sabalenka’s another three times to force a decisive third set.

The 21-year-old American then surged to a 3-1 lead and was a break point away from taking a stranglehold of the match when Sabalenka stabilized her game and took the next two. But the Belarusian immediately surrendered the following service game and went back to arguing with her coach.

Gauff held her nerve – and her serve – to become the first American to win at Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2015.

The match started as a lopsided affair as Sabalenka bullied Gauff all over the court and took an early 4-1 advantage. But cracks began to appear in Sabalenka’s game. Though she won the set in a grueling 80 minutes, she made an astounding 32 unforced errors, more than she committed in any of her previous six matches in Paris.

Both players were appearing in the French Open final for the first time, but the windy conditions, more than the weight of the occasion, were what unsettled the pair. Sabalenka entered the match with the third-lowest double-fault rate on the women’s tour but committed six as she tried to locate her serve.

She won just 48% of her first serves Saturday, well below her 68% average for the year, and ended up with 70 unforced errors in all.

“You know, honestly guys, this will hurt so much. It was really a blur. Such a tough two weeks,” Sabalenka told the crowd. “In these terrible conditions, showing such terrible tennis in the final, this really hurts. Anyway, Coco congrats, in these tough conditions you were a better player than me.

“Well done on a great two weeks. Congrats on the second Grand Slam. Well-deserved. You are a fighter. Congrats to you and your team. Thanks to you guys for the atmosphere. I really enjoyed every second out here playing in front of you all.”

Gauff hadn’t reached a major final since beating Sabalenka for the 2023 US Open title and had lost to the eventual French Open winner in each of her past four runs in Paris.

But she retrieved some of Sabalenka’s most ferocious shots and broke her serve nine times. Gauff showed some of her best work in the third game of the deciding set, trading drop shots before producing a net winner off Sabalenka’s last-ditch tweener.

Sabalenka hit consecutive big-time winners while trailing 5-4 in the third set and had a break-point opportunity to extend the match. But more unforced errors followed. All she could do was send a backhand wide on Gauff’s second match point, and the American had her moment.

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