French Open champion Coco Gauff has hit back at runner-up Aryna Sabalenka’s suggestion that Iga Swiatek would have won the Roland Garros final, had she not been eliminated in the semi-finals.
Gauff battled back from a set down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4, capturing her first French Open title and second Grand Slam crown following her triumph at the 2023 US Open.
With the victory, she became the first American woman to win at Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2015. Gauff had comfortably seen off French wildcard Lois Boisson in the semi-final, while Sabalenka battled past world No. 5 Swiatek in a much-anticipated clash.
Despite her loss in the final, Sabalenka overshadowed Gauff’s triumph with a sharp comment during her post-match press conference. “That hurts. Especially when I’ve been playing really great tennis during the whole week. A lot of tough opponents – Iga. I think if Iga would have beaten me, she would go out today and she would get the win.”
Gauff, not one to be drawn into controversy, dismissed the comment tactfully but firmly, referencing her recent straight-sets win over Swiatek on clay at the Madrid Open.
“I mean, I don’t agree with that. I’m sitting here with the trophy,” she said. “No shade to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets in Madrid. I don’t think that’s a fair thing to say, because anything can happen.”
She went on to say that she had mentally prepared to face either opponent in the final. “To be honest, if you’d asked me who I wanted to play, it was Iga – just because I felt Aryna was playing so well. But regardless of who I faced, I believed I had a good chance to win. I definitely had that belief.”
Sabalenka struggled with the gusty conditions on Court Philippe-Chatrier and registered 70 unforced errors over the course of the final. She lamented her performance afterwards, saying:
“It felt like a joke. Like somebody from above was laughing: let’s see if you can handle this. After two weeks of incredible tennis, to play such terrible tennis in the final really hurts. It felt like she was hitting the ball off the frame and somehow magically it lands in the court. I don’t think she won the match because she played incredible, just because I made all those mistakes.”
While Sabalenka attributed her defeat to her own mistakes and highlighted Swiatek as the formidable challenger she might have faced, Gauff firmly asserted her credentials by recalling her recent straight-sets win over Swiatek.