Gauff beats Sabalenka to win French Open title
Coco Gauff won the first French Open title of her career by fighting back to beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka in a rollercoaster final played in testing conditions.American second seed Gauff claimed a 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 victory after a tense battle between the WTA Tour's two leading players.It is the second Grand Slam victory of the 21-year-old's career, adding to the US Open title she won in 2023, also by beating Belarus' Sabalenka.Gauff recovered from a difficult start where she trailed by a double break, eventually finding her rhythm and benefiting from a huge number of mistakes from 27-year-old Sabalenka.A stiff breeze played havoc with serve in the opening two sets, leading to the pair exchanging 12 breaks in an entertaining if not high-quality affair.Gauff, who lost in the 2022 final, settled quicker in the deciding third set to move a break up and kept her nerve to serve out victory.
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