The French Open women’s final exemplified the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat for Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday.
Both women played a competitive match, but Gauff edged Sabalenka in three physical sets. Sabalenka won a difficult first set in a tiebreaker, and tennis fans know that when these two play, the winner of the first set is usually the champion (now 7 out of 11 times).
Aryna Sabalenka probably had flashbacks of the 2023 US Open where she won the first set against Gauff, only to lose the match.
Sabalenka was teary and very emotional after the match. She could barely speak when she received the finalist’s plate. Fans cheered her on as she wiped the tears away.
What Aryna Sabalenka Said
Watching Aryna Sabalenka with tears in her eyes before her Roland Garros speech is really hard. 💔💔💔
Chin up, Aryna.
You have so much to be proud of.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) June 7, 2025
Then she called her tennis “terrible” in the final, apologizing to the fans for not performing better. Sabalenka had 70 unforced errors in the match, but some of that was related to Gauff’s ability to chase down everything and keep her stoic demeanor even when she was down 1-4 0-40 in the first set.
Aryna Sabalenka talked during the fortnight in Paris that winning the French Open would “mean everything” to her. She always felt clay was not her favorite or best surface. Winning this would prove otherwise to herself and the world. In many ways, she has already proved it with a consistently high level of performance this year including a win over Gauff at the 2025 Madrid Open.
Sabalenka leaves the clay behind and will embrace the change of surface and scenery. The last time she lost to Gauff in a Grand Slam, she turned around and won the next one. The field needs to look out at Wimbledon because Sabalenka will get better and tougher from this loss.
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