{"id":83632,"date":"2025-05-16T16:53:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T20:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=83632"},"modified":"2025-05-16T16:53:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T20:53:02","slug":"why-coco-gauff-is-the-french-open-favorite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/05\/16\/why-coco-gauff-is-the-french-open-favorite\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Coco Gauff is the French Open Favorite if she wins Rome Final"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After a slow start to the 2025 season, Coco Gauff sealed back-to-back WTA 1000 finals by beating Qinwen Zheng in a three-hour and 30-minute epic. The 21-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/05\/15\/wta-rome-final-prediction-gauff-paolini\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">will face home favorite Jasmine Paolini for the title<\/a> on Saturday. Overcoming last year&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/category\/french-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">French Open<\/a> runner-up in front of a partisan crowd would be a significant moment for her. This article gives five reasons why Gauff should be considered the favorite at Roland Garros if she achieves that success.<\/p>\n<h2>Coco Gauff is the French Open Favorite if she wins the Rome Final<\/h2>\n<h4>1. The Mental Impact if Gauff secures a First Major Clay-Court Title<\/h4>\n<p>Gauff&#8217;s sole title on clay was at the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open, a WTA 250 tournament. While winning any title is impressive, especially considering the American&#8217;s age at the time of 17, triumphing at a 1000 or Grand Slam event is an entirely different achievement since they feature the best players in the world. Gauff had reached two Italian Open semifinals before reaching her maiden WTA 1000 final at the Madrid Open two weeks ago. She lost 6-3 7-6 to the world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who won a third title in Spain.<\/p>\n<p>Although the 2023 US Open winner has already proven herself a great champion, claiming her first clay-court crown at one of the biggest tournaments on the calendar would give her a significant boost. She could carry that momentum into the French Open with even more belief than before.<\/p>\n<h4>2. Gauff has Always Been Better on Clay Than Many Realized<\/h4>\n<p>Gauff&#8217;s US Open and WTA Finals titles mean the greatest moments of her career so far have been on hard courts. At the same time, she had a better win percentage on clay before this year&#8217;s swing, and that has improved even further after her efforts in Madrid and Rome. Iga Swiatek&#8217;s dominance is the principal reason she has not won more titles.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Coco Gauff vs Qiang Wang | 2021 Parma Final | WTA Match Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LvvxtAcwFz4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Swiatek denied her fellow young star in the 2022 French Open final, the 2024 French Open semifinal, and the 2022 and 2024 Italian Open semifinals. Gauff would almost certainly have won more titles on clay had it not been for the Pole. The Madrid Open is the only 1000 or Grand Slam tournament Swiatek has not controlled, but the conditions there suit Sabalenka perfectly, leading to her winning it three times.<\/p>\n<p>Those factors mean Gauff&#8217;s clay-court prowess has slipped under the radar somewhat. An argument can be made that she is better on the dirt than hard courts, and was simply unlucky to be playing against Swiatek when her level was incredible on the surface.<\/p>\n<h4>3. Iga Swiatek&#8217;s Form Slump<\/h4>\n<p>Swiatek has not reached a final since winning her fourth title at Roland Garros last year. Her form had been alarming for a while, but the former world No. 1 crashing out in the round of 32 at the Italian Open against Danielle Collins sent shockwaves around the tennis world. That tournament and the French Open are the two she has dominated since 2020, regardless of any other results.<\/p>\n<p>Gauff also made a stunning statement against Swiatek in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinal, thrashing her 6-1, 6-1. That was Gauff&#8217;s first win against Swiatek on clay and her third consecutive on all surfaces. While conditions at Roland Garros are different from Madrid, breaking the mental barrier of beating Swiatek on clay in such a comprehensive manner, combined with the Pole&#8217;s form in the last 12 months, raises Gauff&#8217;s hopes for this year&#8217;s French Open.<\/p>\n<h4>4. The Conditions at Roland Garros Suit Gauff more than Sabalenka<\/h4>\n<p>The conditions at the French Open are not identical to any other tournament. However, they play much more similarly to the Italian Open than the Mutua Madrid Open. The altitude in the Spanish capital makes the courts quicker and bouncier, assisting Sabalenka&#8217;s game. This year&#8217;s Australian Open runner-up does not avail of the same benefits at other clay-court events, as demonstrated by her not winning any other titles on the dirt.<\/p>\n<p>That reality was also shown by Zheng Qinwen comfortably beating Sabalenka in very slow conditions during the night session at this year&#8217;s Italian Open. The world No. 1 became incredibly frustrated and gave the match away easily. That contrasts sharply with Gauff digging in for over three hours to beat Zheng in a deciding set tiebreak. It was a ringing endorsement of the American&#8217;s mental and physical strength.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"0F4BAoloRD5HcnIHbScxZw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2214629730\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'0F4BAoloRD5HcnIHbScxZw',sig:'BGuMkVVH5QfkM0gbJhTG5467_13HoMwfgw9NGpiWW0A=',w:'594px',h:'365px',items:'2214629730',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>If Gauff and Sabalenka meet at Roland Garros, the conditions will help Gauff more than they did in their Madrid contest. A slower court allows the 21-year-old to better use her unrivalled athleticism against Sabalenka&#8217;s powerful hitting. Swiatek&#8217;s form and the matchup dynamics against Sabalenka in Paris mean she can be confident of beating either of them.<\/p>\n<h4>5. Gauff has an Unrivalled Ability to Compete Without Playing her best<\/h4>\n<p>Rating Gauff as the French Open favorite if she triumphs in Rome does not ignore the issues in her game.<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/11\/09\/coco-gauff-superb-wta-finals-showing\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"> The WTA Finals champion&#8217;s<\/a> second serve and forehand problems have been well documented. But she is also one of the best competitors women&#8217;s tennis has ever seen. Swiatek and Sabalenka&#8217;s levels have undoubtedly been better for much of Gauff&#8217;s career so far. Considering the extent of her second serve and forehand issues, it is somewhat incredible how the American competed against them, especially for much of last year.<\/p>\n<p>Gauff reached the Australian Open, Italian Open, and French Open semifinals in 2024 without being near her best. While Swiatek and Sabalenka are incredible players, they rely more on rhythm. Swiatek&#8217;s destruction by Gauff in Madrid demonstrated how she can quickly go under when struggling. Another example is Sabalenka&#8217;s emotions boiling over when not at her best against Zheng.<\/p>\n<p>There have been countless cases of Gauff finding a way to win or compete despite significant issues in her game. She was not near her best against Zheng in Rome, and managed to take Sabalenka to a second-set tiebreak in Madrid despite her second serve faltering and the conditions favoring the Belarusian. That competitive edge could prove crucial at Roland Garros. Considering Swiatek&#8217;s form and the favorable matchup against Sabalenka in Paris, winning the Italian Open is the last step she needs to be the French Open favorite.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-<em>Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a slow start to the 2025 season, Coco Gauff sealed back-to-back WTA 1000 finals by beating Qinwen Zheng in a three-hour and 30-minute epic. The 21-year-old will face home favorite Jasmine Paolini for the title on Saturday. Overcoming last year&#8217;s French Open runner-up in front of a partisan crowd would be a significant moment [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4708,"featured_media":82734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2,5,15913],"tags":[807,1766,2747,204,4315,2872,2873],"class_list":["post-83632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wta","category-featured","category-french-open","category-opinion","tag-american-tennis","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-coco-gauff","tag-french-open","tag-iga-swiatek","tag-italian-open","tag-wta-rome"],"modified_by":"Steen Kirby","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4708"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83632"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83651,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83632\/revisions\/83651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}