French Open: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka faces No. 2 Coco Gauff in the women's final
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year]
PARIS (AP) — No.1 Aryna Sabalenka faces No. 2 Coco Gauff in the French Open final on Saturday with both women aiming to win the title for the first time.
Gauff lost the 2022 French Open final at age 18 but the American beat Sabalenka in the 2023 U.S. Open final, Gauff's only major so far.
The 27-year-old Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, has won three majors but is appearing in her first French Open final.
It is the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 final in Paris since 2013, when Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, and just the second in the last 30 years.
Sabalenka and Gauff have split their 10 previous matchups evenly, but Sabalenka won their most recent encounter, also on a clay court at the Madrid Open a month ago. ___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
26 minutes ago
- New York Times
Aryna Sabalenka's ‘terrible' French Open final and the intangibles of tennis
ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — Aryna Sabalenka made no effort to hide her disappointment after losing the French Open final to Coco Gauff Saturday, repeatedly calling her performance 'terrible' and saying it was 'the worst tennis I've played in the last, I don't know how many months.' 'It's just a joke,' she said. Advertisement She offered that analysis once she'd left Court Philippe-Chatrier, after a 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 defeat. In her on-court interview, Sabalenka eschewed the usual platitudes and the customary opening line congratulating the winner and their team, and went straight for self-flagellation. After fighting back tears, she said: 'Honestly guys this will hurt so much, especially after such a tough two weeks, playing great tennis and in these terrible conditions playing such terrible tennis in the final — that really hurts.' 'Coco, congrats in these tough conditions. You were the better player than me. Congrats on a great two weeks,' she said. In her news conference, Sabalenka went for the jugular again. This time, she focused not on her own shortcomings, but on the weather conditions that had defined the type of tennis being played. 'Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me. I think it was the worst final I ever played.' Sabalenka's devastation was understandable. She is the world No. 1 and has now lost two Grand Slam finals in a row, both in three sets, both having been the big favorite. Five months ago, Madison Keys beat her in Melbourne to win her first major, and in Paris Gauff thwarted Sabalenka's bid for the non hard-court slam that would rubberstamp her evolution into an all-court player. The match was on her racket, but Sabalenka hit 70 unforced errors compared to just 37 winners as she struggled to cope with the factors outside of her control. Namely the wind, an inspired Gauff and the pressure of what was at stake. Given the chance to praise Gauff's inspired defensive showing, Sabalenka said that her opponent had won the match 'by running and playing those high balls from the frame,' before saying directly that Gauff had framed, or mishit, numerous shots. Advertisement 'She was hitting the ball from the frame. Somehow magically the ball lands in the court … Yeah, it's just, you know, like — it felt like a joke, honestly, like somebody from above was just staying there laughing, like, 'let's see if you can handle this.' 'I think she won the match not because she played incredible; just because I made all of those mistakes from if you look from the outside, from easy balls.' Tennis is seen as a 50-50 battle, but matchups and gamestyles mean that this is not always the case. Gauff won Saturday's final by assuming the role of supporting actor to Sabalenka the protagonist, knowing that the match was not on her racket and making her greatest assets — her court coverage, lateral movement, and baseline defense — the most important things in the match. She played the conditions. Sabalenka did not, saying afterward that as the match wore on and it got windier, she became 'overemotional.' She compared her unraveling to the last time she played Gauff in a Grand Slam final, at the U.S. Open two years ago. 'Another terrible performance from me against Coco in the final,' she said. Sabalenka added that had the four-time champion Iga Świątek beaten her in Thursday's semifinal, 'I think she would go out today and she would get the win.' In her own news conference, Gauff responded. 'I mean, I don't agree with that. I'm here sitting here,' she said. '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.' This leaves Sabalenka in a strange place. She remains world No. 1 by a distance, but she hasn't won a Grand Slam title and has been way below her best level in both finals. Throughout the match, she seemed uncomfortable with the shifts in momentum occasioned, in part, by the complicated conditions. But a similar shift happened against Świątek: in both matches, Sabalenka led 4-1, had a point for 5-1, and was pulled back into a tiebreak, one under the roof and one in the open air. Against Świątek under the roof, Sabalenka reset, one less intangible to fight. Against Gauff, the collection of intangibles — the weather, the stakes, the history — appeared to overwhelm her. Advertisement And for regular watchers of her matches, her reaction to Saturday's defeat was essentially an extension of how she reacts to smaller moments of disappointment within matches: berating herself and not accepting that occasionally her opponents will be too good. This kind of mentality is part of what drives great champions. But is showing it always helpful? Her performance coach Jason Stacy was asked this question in a news conference Friday and pointed to one of the team's mantras: 'Don't fight it, don't feed it.' He expanded by saying: 'We don't want to fight this, because the stress, anxiety, the pressure, the mistakes, all those things are going to be there, so you can't pretend it's not going to be a thing, but you don't want to feed it either and give it too much energy or power.' Asked if Sabalenka's frustrations were a boost, Gauff said that she didn't read too much into it, but: 'Obviously when you see your opponent frustrated in any circumstance, if it's tough or not, obviously it does uplift you just because you know that they're frustrated.' Sabalenka will head to the Greek island of Mykonos to recharge and in her words indulge in 'tequila, gummy bears, and swimming.' She laughed as she said that she would be 'like the tourist for couple of days'. But even as she tried to lighten the mood and look ahead to her holiday, she couldn't help but go back to lambasting the events of the previous few hours. 'I just need couple of days to completely forget about this crazy world and this crazy — if I could swear, I would swear right now, about this crazy thing that happened today,' she said. 'I think everyone understands. I'm just trying to be very polite right now, but there is no other word that could describe what just happened today on the court.' All things being equal, Sabalenka is undoubtedly the best player in the world. But tennis matches are not equal. It's how she manages the intangibles that can shape them that will define the next phase of her career.
San Francisco Chronicle
34 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Sabalenka rues another missed chance against Gauff in French Open final: 'This one hurts so much'
PARIS (AP) — While Coco Gauff was taking selfies on Court Philippe-Chatrier to celebrate her triumph on the Parisian clay, her opponent on the other side of the umpire's chair was filled with anger and sadness. As Roland-Garros officials prepared the court for the trophy ceremony, Aryna Sabalenka sat with her gaze lost in the distance before she took a towel and covered her face. And when it finally came time to speak, Sabalenka was silent for a long moment, as if on the verge of tears. The assessment of her own performance, when she finally took the microphone to address the Roland-Garros crowd, was ruthless. 'Honestly guys, this one hurts so much," she said. 'To show such terrible tennis in the final does really hurt.' The top-ranked Sabalenka won the first set as her high-risk approach brought dividends initially. But once Gauff found her stride, the Belarusian's errors became more and more frequent and she lost the match between the world's two highest-ranked players 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4. Sabalenka hit 37 winners but finished the match with a staggering 70 unforced errors — compared to Gauff's 30. Sabalenka also dropped her serve nine times. 'I think I was overemotional,' she said. 'I didn't really handle myself quite well mentally, I would say. So basically that's it. I was just making unforced errors. I think she won the match not because she played incredible; just because I made all of those mistakes from — like, if you look from the outside, kind of like from easy balls." The disappointment was even greater given that Sabalenka has worked hard to adapt her game to the slow surface over the years, and after she ended Iga Swiatek's 26-match unbeaten streak at the French Open in the semifinals. 'You've been playing against a lot of tough opponents, Olympic champion, Iga, and then you go out, and you play really bad,' she said during her post-match interview. 'It was honestly the worst tennis I've played in the last, I don't know how many months." Sabalenka also complained about the weather conditions. The retractable roof over the center court remained open during the final, and Sabalenka was visibly annoyed by bursts of wind sweeping across the court. 'Conditions were terrible," the three-time major champion said. 'When she would hit the ball, at some point the wind would just let the ball fly like crazy, and you know, I was late every time.' This was the second major final Sabalenka lost to Gauff, after the 2023 U.S. Open, where she also won the first set. Sabalenka had won their most recent meeting on clay this year in Madrid and thought she had the weapons to beat the American on the biggest stage. 'It's another tough Grand Slam final against Coco,' Sabalenka said. 'Another terrible performance from me against Coco in the final. I have to step back, look at this from a perspective, and try to finally learn the lesson, because I cannot go out there every time against her in Grand Slam finals and play such terrible tennis and give those wins, not easily, but emotionally.' ___
Chicago Tribune
36 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Coco Gauff defeats top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in 3 sets to win her 1st French Open and 2nd Grand Slam title
PARIS — Coco Gauff won the French Open for the first time by defeating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday's final for her second Grand Slam title. The second-ranked Gauff made fewer mistakes in a contest that was full of tension and momentum swings to get the better of Sabalenka for the second time in a Grand Slam final. She also came from a set down to beat the Belarusian in the 2023 U.S. Open final. Gauff raised the winners' trophy aloft, then kissed it several times. She held her hand over her heart when the U.S. national anthem played. She is the first American woman to win at Roland-Garros since Serena Williams in 2015. She then thanked her parents for doing everything 'from washing my clothes to keeping me grounded and giving me the belief that I can do it.' 'You guys probably believe in me more than myself,' Gauff said in her on-court speech. It was the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 final in Paris since 2013, when Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, and just the second in the last 30 years. After Sabalenka sent a backhand wide on Gauff's second match point, the 21-year-old American fell onto her back, covering her face with both hands as she started to sob, then got up and held her hand over her mouth. She continued to sob as she patted the clay with her left hand. Gauff greeted Sabalenka at the net with a warm hug and thanking the umpire, Gauff screamed out with joy and relief, then got to her knees and crouched forward, continuing to cry as she savored the win. She hugged later film director Spike Lee and celebrated with her entourage in her box, three years after she lost in her first Grand Slam final at Roland-Garros. In her on-court speech, she also added that the defeat in 2022 at the age of 18 put her in a 'dark place' and then thanked the fans on Court-Philippe Chatrier, who were rooting mostly for her. 'The crowd really helped me today, you guys were cheering for me so hard and I don't know what I did to deserve so much love from the French crowd,' she said. 'But I appreciate you, guys.' Sabalenka was in tears moments earlier when she made her speech. Struggling to find her words, she praised Gauff for being a 'fighter' and said she deserved the win, but added that the windy conditions made for an error-strewn contest. 'This will hurt so much,' she said. 'Coco, congrats, in the tough conditions you were a better player than me. Well done, great two weeks, and congrats on the second Grand Slam. It's well deserved.' Both players were sloppy in the first set, conceding 21 break-point chances and making 48 unforced errors between them, with Sabalenka making 32 yet still winning the set. She made 70 altogether in the match, compared to 30 overall for Gauff. Sabalenka was often frustrated during the first set, remonstrating and shouting at herself and frequently turning around to look at her team with an exasperated look on her face. She put her head on her hands a couple of times, and at one point raised her shoulders as if to say 'What's going on?' The first set looked to be heading Gauff's way when she led 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but Sabalenka steadied herself and clinched it with a forehand volley at the net — an area where she dominated Gauff. Gauff picked her spots better in the second set and the crowd cheered more loudly when her smash at the net leveled the match. But Sabalenka started the deciding set strongly, sticking to her high-risk approach to hold her first service game. Gauff responded by raising her level, winning a superb rally in the third game that drew loud cheers. After an intense exchange of drop shots, Gauff hit a lob that Sabalenka chased down before attempting a shot between her legs — only for Gauff to intercept it at the net and finish with a winner. Gauff was consistent from the baseline and earned a break point which she converted when Sabalenka double-faulted, giving her a 2-1 lead. Sabalenka regained her composure, breaking back to level the match at 3-3. She was broken again at love, however, and Gauff then held serve twice to claimed the title after a match that lasted 2 hours, 38 minutes. Gauff now owns two French Open trophies after winning last year's women's doubles title.
