Coco Gauff shows true colours with sharp response to Sabalenka's comments after French Open final
Sabalenka was left visibly upset after losing in the French Open final to Gauff
Coco Gauff showed no signs of toying with Aryna Sabalenka following their clash in the French Open final, where the American secured her second Grand Slam title after a remarkable comeback victory against the world's No. 1 seed.
Gauff overturned an initial deficit to triumph 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 as Sabalenka found it challenging to handle the gusty conditions and her own emotions on the red clay of Roland Garros.
The top-seeded player didn't hide her disappointment, candidly stating she had played "terrible tennis" before reinforcing her sentiment during the press conference.
She contended that if Iga Swiatek, whom she defeated during a semi-final showdown on Thursday, ending her four-year undefeated streak in Paris with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-0 scoreline, had reached the finals, she would have clinched the title.
Sabalenka, evidently embittered after succumbing to Gauff and committing 70 unforced errors despite winning an exhaustive 80-minute first set, remarked: "If Iga would [beat] me another day, I think she would go out today and she would get the win."
Struggling to contain her disappointment, she further expressed: "Yeah, it just hurts. Honestly hurts. I've been playing really well, and then in the last match, go out there and perform like I did, that hurts."
Despite the tears and self-censure from Sabalenka, Gauff remained poised. Gracefully accepting her new status as tournament champion at her post-match press conference, Gauff was apprised of Sabalenka's remarks.
But the newly crowned champion stood her ground, brushing off Sabalenka's comments, by stating: "I mean, I don't agree with that."
She followed up sharply with the words: "I'm here sitting here."
The 21 year old Gauff also brought up her recent convincing victory over Swiatek at the Madrid Open: "Last time I played - no shade to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets. Yeah, I don't think that's a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen.
"Yeah, honestly the way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favourite to win. So I think she was the best person that I could have played in the final.
"Her being No.1 in the world was the best person to play, so I think I got the hardest matchup just if you go off stats alone."
Despite this, if given the choice, Gauff would have favoured a match against Swiatek, although now as a double major title-winner, such hypotheticals were rendered inconsequential.
Gauff expressed her confidence before the match, feeling that she had a strong chance of winning irrespective of the rival she faced.
"Obviously Iga being a champion here, it was going to be a tough match either way," the champion remarked. "But, yeah, I think regardless of who I played, I think I had a good shot to win, and I definitely had that belief," she elaborated.
"If you asked me, honestly speaking to you guys who I wanted to play, it was Iga just because I felt Aryna was playing so good, and she was.
"But also, Iga is a tough opponent too. So honestly, neither of them would have been the better shot. But, you know, it played out how it played out. Yeah, that's why I'm here today."
You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season.
We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.
Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
25 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Coco Gauff will follow in Serena Williams' footsteps and lead women's tennis into a new era, writes MATTHEW LAMBWELL - after the 21-year-old triumphed at the French Open
A two-time Grand Slam champion, a candle in the darkness for America, a cultural icon - there is a lot on the shoulders of 21-year-old Coco Gauff. But she can handle it. It is becoming ever more apparent there is nothing this extraordinary young woman cannot handle. The transition out of the Serena Williams era was never going to be easy, but Gauff is the woman who will lead women's tennis into the future. She is highly unlikely to match Serena's achievements on the tennis court - she has 21 Slams to go after all - but as a global cultural icon she can have a similar impact. The way she ran to embrace American filmmaker Spike Lee after the match showed resonance in pop culture. 'Knowing how much Serena meant to me - obviously I'm not going to have the same impact as her but just impacting a quarter of the people, or less, that's still a lot of people,' said the world No2. 'My biggest goal would be to have someone play professional tennis because of me.' Asked the difficult question of what it means to be an American athlete - especially a black, female, liberal American athlete - in these tempestuous times, she spoke with courage and nuance of what she feels her responsibilities are: 'To be a representation of people that look like me in America who don't feel as supported during this time period. Being a reflection of hope and light for those people. 'Seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. Some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic, but I'm definitely patriotic. I'm proud to be American. I'm proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support.' That seems like an awful lot of pressure to put on oneself but - as top athletes must be - Gauff is a master of compartmentalization. 'Before and after matches is when I feel that weight,' said Gauff. 'On court I'm just focussing on putting the ball back over the net.' And that is precisely what she did against Sabalenka. In windy conditions she drove or sliced or looped the ball - anything just to keep it in play - and extracted 70 unforced errors from the world No1, coming through 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. Her parents Corey and Candi embraced each other and jumped around in the box. Gauff has recently asked her father to take a step back from input into her tennis and her mother to take a step closer, travelling with her on the tour - was it difficult to convince them? 'They know if say something I really mean it,' said Gauff. 'I'm a pretty dynamite personality.' You can say that again.
BBC News
32 minutes ago
- BBC News
Paolini and 'legend' Errani win women's doubles title
French Open 2025Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland GarrosCoverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app Jasmine Paolini called partner Sara Errani a "legend" and an "inspiration" after they clinched the French Open women's doubles and Paolini beat Kazakh Anna Danilina and Serb Aleksandra Krunic 6-4 2-6 6-1 on Court Philippe Italian duo won Olympic gold on the same court in Paris last summer and have now added a first Grand Slam title together to their growing 29, reached both the women's singles and doubles final at last year's French Open but lost in the fourth round of this year's singles."I want to thank Sara," Paolini said. "It has been her last tournament in singles here and I want to say thank you very much. You are an inspiration for me."You are a great champion and a great person. You have made me a better player and it's great to share these special moments with you. You are a legend." Errani, 38, previously said this would be her last time playing singles at Roland Garros and she ultimately lost in the second round of had already completed the doubles Golden Slam - winning each of the four majors - but now boast six Grand Slam titles to her name, including two at the French also won the mixed doubles title alongside compatriot Andrea Vavassori on Thursday."This is the best court in the world, I have the best memories here and it's so special for me," Errani said."Sometimes you are not enjoying it 100% because you can't stop and feel it, but right now I'm feeling it. "I'm trying to realise what we are doing and it's so big. Winning a Grand Slam is such a big thing."Second seeds Errani and Paolini had not dropped a set en route to the final but were taken the distance by Danilina and and Paolini broke for a 4-2 lead in the first set but Danilina and Krunic hit straight back, restoring parity with a break of their own at the fifth Italians wrapped up a 55-minute set with a break of serve in the 10th game, signalling another routine victory could be on the Danilina and Krunic came out fighting, earning two breaks to get on the board and force a momentum was quickly wrestled away, though, when Krunic and Danilina were each broken on their first service games and their Italian rivals raced to the finish line.
South Wales Argus
an hour ago
- South Wales Argus
Amelie Mauresmo says French Open organisers will address problem of empty seats
Women's world number one Aryna Sabalenka and Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng played out one of the biggest match-ups of the tournament in the quarter-finals. But with the match beginning at 11am, the vast Court Philippe-Chatrier was almost deserted, with many of the French spectators having lunch instead. Qinwen Zheng played Aryna Sabalenka in front of empty seats (Lindsey Wasson/AP) Mauresmo said: 'We are aware of this, and we will definitely work on the solutions that we can find for the future. 'In two weeks we have our debrief all together and definitely talk about these subjects and see how we can make it work better.' The lack of women's matches in the prime-time night sessions remains a hot topic but Mauresmo once again stressed that is purely down to men's best-of-five set matches being longer, ensuring value for money for ticket holders. 'I think we wouldn't be having this conversation if we would have the same format for both games, because in my opinion it's the length or the possible length of the match that is making it hard for us in terms of scheduling,' she added.' Amelie Mauresmo oversaw the 2025 tournament (Christophe Ena/AP) The French Open remains the last of the four grand slams to still use line judges rather than electric line calling, which is currently considered not reliable on clay. Former Wimbledon champion Mauresmo said the standard of line judging was good at the tournament, but admitted the issue still remains up for discussion. 'Generally speaking, we had a very high level and this is a very great satisfaction for us, because, as you know, we are the last of the Mohicans to some extent with the line judges,' she said. 'We will be looking at it again this year, in what way would there not be line judges next year. I don't really have the answer to that, but we will look at that question.'
