Coco Gauff won the first French Open singles title of her career by fighting back to beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka in a rollercoaster final.
American second seed Gauff claimed a 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 victory after a tense battle between the WTA Tour’s two leading players in testing conditions.
It is the second Grand Slam singles triumph of Gauff’s career, adding to the US Open title she won in 2023, also by beating Belarus’ Sabalenka.
“I think this [Grand Slam] win was harder than the first because you don’t want to get satisfied with just that one,” said 21-year-old Gauff.
Gauff recovered from a difficult start where she trailed by a double break, eventually finding her rhythm and benefiting from a huge number of mistakes from 27-year-old Sabalenka.
“This hurts so much. Congratulations to Coco – she was a better player than me,” said Sabalenka, who was also bidding for her first Roland Garros title.
A stiff breeze played havoc with serve in the opening two sets, leading to the pair exchanging 12 breaks in an entertaining if not high-quality affair.
Gauff, who lost in the 2022 final, settled quicker in the deciding third set to move a break up and kept her nerve to serve out victory.
She had to survive another break point before winning her second championship point, falling to the clay on her back when Sabalenka pushed a forehand wide.
With her parents Candi and Corey dancing euphorically in the stands, Gauff shared an affectionate hug with Sabalenka before running off court to celebrate with her family.
From tears of pain to tears of joy – Gauff’s redemption
Gauff’s previous appearance in the French Open singles showpiece, when she was still a teenager, ended in her covering her head with a towel as she sobbed on her chair.
It was the defining image of her defeat by Iga Swiatek, but she vowed to come back stronger – and she has.
“I was going through a lot of things when I lost here three years ago,” Gauff said.
“I’m just glad to be back here. I was going through a lot of dark thoughts.”
Three years on, Gauff returned to the final as a Grand Slam champion, having fulfilled the potential promised by winning in New York.
A productive clay-court swing, taking her to the Madrid and Rome finals, meant she arrived in Paris considered a sounder bet than defending champion Swiatek.
“Three finals… I guess I got the most important win – that’s all that matters,” said Gauff.
Only Sabalenka, who beat her to the Madrid title, had performed better and it was therefore unsurprising the top two seeds met again with the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen at stake.
The tricky conditions met neither woman was able to play their best tennis, but Gauff showed indefatigable spirit and will to win.
Like in 2022 after her defeat by Poland’s Iga Swiatek, there were more tears for Gauff – this time, ones of joy.
Sabalenka falls short in clay quest
The consistency of Sabalenka across all surfaces over the past three years has been unparalleled.
After excelling on hard courts, she has developed her game to become a force on clay and grass.
By reaching the Paris last eight, Sabalenka was the first player to reach the quarter-finals at 10 consecutive Grand Slams since American great Serena Williams in 2017.
But she fell agonisingly short of landing her first major on the slower clay surface.
All three of her previous major triumphs came on the quicker hard courts at the Australian Open and US Open.
After collecting her runners-up prize, Sabalenka fought back tears and apologised to her team for “playing a terrible final”.
Like in her semi-final win over defending champion Swiatek, Sabalenka started aggressively and confidently to move a double break ahead.
She was a point away from a 5-1 lead but her dominance quickly disappeared as Gauff fought back.
Despite recovering from 5-3 down in the tie-break, Sabalenka continued to be animated and regularly chastised herself.
It meant she was unable to stem the flow of mistakes from her racquet, with a huge total of 70 unforced errors illustrating her difficulties.
By BBC Sports
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