By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS (Reuters) -Coco Gauff showed the spirit of a warrior as she battled from a set down to topple world number one Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 in the French Open final on Saturday and claim her maiden Roland Garros title and second Grand Slam singles crown.
The 21-year-old became the first American to capture the singles title in Paris since Serena Williams in 2015 and the youngest from the United States to achieve the feat since her decorated compatriot in 2002.
“I was going through a lot of things when I lost this final three years ago. I’m just happy to be here,” Gauff said as she cradled the Suzanne Lenglen Cup and welled up.
“I’d like to congratulate Aryna. You’re a fighter. You’re the number one player in the world. Today was a tough match, but you deserve all the results you’ve been having. Every time we play, it’s such a tough match.
“The crowd helped me today. You guys were cheering for me so hard and I don’t know what I do to deserve such support from the French crowd. I didn’t think I could do it.”
Paris was guaranteed a new champion but the first clash between the top two women in the world rankings in a major final since the 2018 Australian Open failed to live up to its billing on Court Philippe Chatrier with 100 unforced errors in total.
Competing in her third straight Grand Slam final but first on the sport’s slowest surface, Sabalenka broke to love in the third game with smart play at the net and mixed delicate drop shots and raw power to lead 4-1 in the first set.
Gauff was undeterred and broke back from 0-40 down after a shaky service game by Sabalenka and hung on to draw level after eight games as the vocal centre court crowd spurred her on to prolong the contest.
What followed was a festival of mistakes from both players in blustery conditions, before Gauff forced a tiebreak with a neat backhand winner, only to squander a 4-1 advantage as Sabalenka roared back to take the opening set.
Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, barely flinched and she dialled up the intensity in the second set by claiming four of the opening five games and levelled the contest after her rival’s unforced error count climbed to 51.
The 2022 Paris runner-up stepped up another level in the deciding set to build a 3-1 lead before Sabalenka clawed her way back, but she composed herself just in time and wrapped up the win to spark wild celebrations among her fans.
Gauff dropped to the ground in disbelief before shedding tears of joy and racing up the stands to meet her team, while Sabalenka was left to digest another major final defeat after losing the Australian Open title clash to Madison Keys.
The result denied the 27-year-old the chance to become the only active woman on tour to lift singles titles at three of the four Grand Slams after her success at the Australian Open in 2023-24 and the U.S. Open last year.
“Honestly this will hurt so much especially after such a tough two weeks. To show such terrible tennis in the final, it really hurts,” Sabalenka said as the tears flowed, before she praised Gauff for her comeback.
“You’re a fighter, a hard worker, so congratulations to you and your team … thank you to my team for the support. I’m sorry for this terrible final, but I’ll come back stronger.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar, Karolos Grohmann and Julien Pretot in Paris; Editing by Ed Osmond and Pritha Sarkar)
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