
5 things we learned from the 2025 French Open following two epic finals
Carlos Alcaraz defended his French Open title and Coco Gauff won her first after two epic finals on the Paris clay.
Here, the PA news agency looks at what we learned from Roland Garros 2025.
Do believe the hype
The dawn of a new era in men's tennis finally arrived, and in some style. Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have dominated the sport for two years but, like a pair of heavyweight boxers ducking one another, they had never met in a grand slam final. Roland Garros set the stage and the best players on the planet delivered a stone-cold classic, with Alcaraz saving three championship points before winning the longest final in French Open history, a five-set, five-hour 29-minute epic. It was the first major final between two men born in this century and on this evidence, there will be plenty more. Just one thing. Lose the rugby shirts, guys.
Coco's star shines
It is hard to believe Gauff is still only 21, having burst on to the scene six years ago at Wimbledon. The charismatic American's victory over Aryna Sabalenka for a second grand slam title showed such maturity, as did her comments afterwards about trying to be a beacon of hope for 'Americans who look like me' amid a period of political turmoil in her homeland. She became the first American idol of Roland Garros since Serena Williams a decade earlier and has time on her side to collect many more titles.
Aryna angry again
Sabalenka remains the best player on the planet – the runaway world number one – and will head to Wimbledon as a big favourite for the title. The Belarusian has made huge strides to exorcise the demons that used to dog her in big matches and has three grand slam titles to show for it. But she has lost the last two major finals, including a surprise defeat to Madison Keys in Australia, and the mental fragility seemed to return against Gauff with 70 unforced errors telling their own story. A reset is required if the 27-year-old is to add a Wimbledon crown to her US and Australian Open titles.
Novak's Aussie farewell?
Novak Djokovic admitted he may have played his last match at Roland Garros after going down in three tight sets to Sinner in the semi-finals. He proved once again he can still mix it with the elite, especially after a superb four-set dismantling of Alexander Zverev in the last eight. But at 38, he knows he is running out of time. Will he hold his retirement party at next January's Australian Open, a tournament he has won 10 times and which he feels is his best chance to land that elusive record 25th grand slam title?
The Brits are all right
Jack Draper led the British challenge and, as predicted, got the furthest. Yet he was probably the biggest disappointment. Seeded fifth and drawn to meet Sinner in the quarter-finals, he fell in the fourth round to world number 62 Alexander Bublik. Still, he got his first Roland Garros wins under his belt, as did Jacob Fearnley, Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal, while Cameron Norrie enjoyed a much-needed run to the third round following a tough 18 months. Then there was Hannah Klugman, at 16 a first British junior finalist in almost 50 years. It was all a vast improvement on last year's first-round wipe-out.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
13 minutes ago
- Reuters
From clay to spray: Nadal's team leads electric charge on Adriatic waves
June 10 (Reuters) - As Rafa Nadal gets used life after tennis, he has let go of his racquets to spend time on the Adriatic waves, steering his Team Rafa into electric powerboat racing's E1 World Championship in Dubrovnik. Days after the retired 14-times Roland Garros champion was immortalised at the French Open with a permanent footprint on centre court's famed red clay, the Spaniard's racing team tops a tightly contested series heading into the Croatian round, following a dramatic victory last time out in Doha. Team Rafa currently leads the standings following success in Doha, as the electric boat racing series begins its European leg on June 13-14 along Croatia's coast. The tennis great's boat is piloted by Spanish professional jet ski racer Cristina Lazarrage and Frenchman Tom Chiappe. The E1 World Championship is the first all-electric raceboat series sanctioned by powerboating's global governing body, the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), and is designed to accelerate innovation in sustainable marine technology and coastal conservation. Teams featuring both male and female pilots compete in electric-powered RaceBird boats, racing through urban water circuits in iconic global cities. Celebrity owners include LeBron James, Tom Brady, Virat Kohli and Didier Drogba as well as 22-times Grand Slam champion Nadal. The championship continues to Lake Maggiore and Monaco before concluding in Miami, where "Champions of the Water" will be crowned on Nov. 8.


BBC News
34 minutes ago
- BBC News
How Gittens move complicated by Club World Cup rules
Jamie Gittens' proposed move to Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund is in the balance when it comes to being completed before the Club World Cup registration are keen on the wide player and ideally would have had him in for the duration of the that might not interesting thing then will be whether he is included in Niko Kovac's Dortmund squad, as players are not allowed to appear for more than one club in the my colleague Nizaar Kinsella has previously reported, Chelsea are prepared to wait, but there is a mid-tournament deadline which allows new arrivals to be added to squads for the knockout that could not happen if he had already played for German giants begin their campaign against Fluminense on 17 June and Chelsea begin their tournament against Flamengo on 20 the transfer window opening again on 16 June, there is an outside chance a deal could be struck before Chelsea's campaign begins.


BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
Chelsea sign Switzerland goalkeeper Peng
Chelsea have completed the signing of Switzerland goalkeeper Livia Peng from Werder Bremen on a four-year has seven Switzerland caps and won the league and cup Double with FC Zurich in 2019 and 23-year-old cemented herself as Werder Bremen's number one last season and started all but one of the German club's Frauen-Bundesliga matches on their way to a seventh-place said: "It feels so good to be here. When I was 10, I dreamed of playing for Chelsea. Now, my childhood dream has come true and it's so exciting. I'm really happy to join the Chelsea family and get started."It's such a big club. Chelsea want to win titles and so do I. We're a good match. I'm hungry to win here."Peng will battle it out with England's Hannah Hampton for the number one spot at the Blues.