On a clay court drenched in tension and Parisian anticipation, 21-year-old Coco Gauff rose from the fire, rallied from behind, and clinched her first-ever French Open title, toppling Aryna Sabalenka in a fierce three-set final that will echo through tennis history.
The scoreboard read 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. But those numbers barely scratched the surface of the emotional grit and mental evolution that unfolded on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Gauff wasn’t supposed to win, at least not by the playbook of expectations. Sabalenka, with her terrifying serve and iron presence, took the first set with machine-like precision, forcing many to believe the night would end in Belarusian triumph.
This wasn’t the same Gauff who was outplayed in the 2022 French Open final. It wasn’t even the same Gauff who lifted the US Open trophy in 2023. This was a sharper, battle-scarred, unapologetically focused athlete who knows exactly who she is and exactly how to win.
She didn’t flinch when the first set slipped. She didn’t panic when Sabalenka’s returns pushed her to the edge. What Gauff did was adjust. She reset her tempo, absorbed the pressure, and then flipped the momentum with brutal precision in the second set. The crowd, a mix of seasoned Roland Garros followers and new-generation tennis lovers, sensed the shift.
But Coco had other plans.
The third set became a psychological war. Each serve. Each challenge. Each breath. Gauff clawed back from 3-5 down, weathered break points, then snapped. At 5-5, she broke Sabalenka’s serve after a nerve-wracking rally, a brutal backhand winner slicing the silence. The final game was clinical. She served it out. One final forehand. One primal scream. One historic moment.
Gauff fell to her knees. Not just in celebration. In relief. In realisation. She had done it on the court where legends are carved.
Speaking after the match, a visibly emotional Gauff said, “I was doubted. I doubted myself at times. But I kept working. And I’m here. This isn’t just a title. It’s a statement.”
She’s now the youngest American to win the French Open since Serena Williams, and only the third woman in the last decade to win Grand Slams on multiple surfaces before turning 22.
Sabalenka, ever the competitor, acknowledged the weight of the moment. “She earned this,” she said. “We push each other. And today, she was stronger.”
