- PARIS — Coco
Gauff of the United States won the French Open Women's singles title, beating
World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final in Paris on Saturday. The 21-year-old
recovered from losing a dramatic 78-minute first set on a tiebreak to stun the
World No.1 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 in a gripping three-set women’s final on Court
Philippe-Chatrier that lasted two hours and 38 minutes, adding a first
Roland-Garros title to her US Open success from 2023.
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- The world No.2 becomes the first American to win the Roland
Garros singles title since Serena Williams in 2015, and the youngest American
since Serena Williams in 2002.
Also read: French Open: Coco Gauff outlasts Keys in three-set battle to reach semis
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- Sabalenka started the match on a rousing note with a double
break for a 4-1 lead in the first set. But Gauff came back with Sabalenka leading
4-1, 40-0 to claw her way back into this first set to level at 4-4. Sabalenka,
the world No.1, threw in two double faults from 40-0 in that sixth game and
lost her radar after that as errors started creeping into her game.
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- Despite looking frustrated by the minute, Sabalenka broke
again to go up 5-4 and then had two set points during a 13-minute service game,
but still couldn't finish off the set. Gauff hangs tough and somehow breaks
again by playing the slightly safer tennis to make it 5-5. They hold serve and
take the set into a tie-breaker
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- However, Sabalenka does not lose her nerve and shows her
mental strength to survive a tense tiebreak 7-5.
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- Gauff led 4-1 and 5-3 in the shootout before Sabalenka
kicked into gear, producing two superb points from 5-5 to finally finish off
the opener with a short volley on her third set point.
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- But Gauff came back strongly to win the second set, showing
her mental strength as she quickly moved on from the disappointment of blowing
a 5-3 lead in the breaker to dominate the early stages of the second set.
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