American Coco Gauff made history in Paris, winning her first career French Open title (and second Grand Slam overall) with a 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 victory over the world #1 Aryna Sabalenka. In a matchup of the top two ranked players on the WTA Tour, it was Gauff who emerged the winner in a back and forth competitive final that saw some shaky play and errors, but also brilliant tennis during the ebbs and flows of the match.
Gauff becomes the first American winner at the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015, capping off a run in Paris that saw the 21 year old dominate most of her matches. Fellow American Madison Keys provided resistance in the quarterfinals, but just like in the final, Keys recovered from losing the opening set tiebreak to sweep the last two sets. After a routine semifinal against unheralded French underdog Lois Boisson, Gauff faced off with Sabalenka for the 11th time in their careers, prior to this match, the h2h was split evenly at 5-5, and Sabalenka had just beaten Gauff on clay in Madrid.
Sabalenka began the match in dominant fashion, looking like the world #1, she lead 4-1 and was close to making that 5-1. A series of errors saw her lose her nerve, as Gauff won long games down a break at 3-4 and at 4-5 to force a first set tiebreak. Sabalenka overcame failing to convert previous set point chances, and failing to serve the first set out multiple times to win the first set tiebreak 7-5.
The cracks in Sabalenka’s game that showed up in the first set continued throughout the match however, a steely Gauff engaged herself further in the match, breaking Sabalenka in the opening game of set 2 and taking a 4-1 lead. Sabalenka would get a break back but it was too late, as a confident Gauff pushed the match to a deciding frame, taking set 2 6-2.
The third set saw Gauff in the leading position, she broke and lead 3-1 (and almost secured a double break) before Sabalenka broke back, but Sabalenka couldn’t keep the match on serve, her timing was off on her powerful groundstrokes and Gauff would serve for the match at 5-4 in the third set. The final game of the match saw Sabalenka continuing her strategy of trying to hit through the court, but it wasn’t enough. Gauff absorbed her power and her smooth groundstrokes were enough to win her second career Grand Slam, after previously triumphing at the US Open.
Sabalenka’s serve failed her in the match, Gauff had a 12% edge on first serve points won and generated more break point chances, converting 9 of 21 chances. Sabalenka’s inability to hold her serve, was ultimately the deciding factor in a match that was full of fight on both sides.
Gauff’s talent and consistency has put her at the highest level of the game, and she will be a competitor for the remaining Grand Slam titles up for grabs this season, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Sabalenka was denied a French Open title in her first ever final, but she was in the match the whole way, falling to a tenacious Gauff. Sabalenka will also be contending for the remaining Grand Slam titles, and it’s possible these two stars of the game will meet again soon.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images
