The turn of the runner-up
Follow reaction to Coco Gauff's French Open victory after the 21-year-old American's thrilling three-set battle with the World No. 1 Getty Images The Athletic
Coco Gauff fought back from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 in a rollercoaster French Open final.
It is the second Grand Slam singles triumph of Gauff's career and her maiden Roland Garros title, adding to the US Open title she won in 2023, also by beating Sabalenka.
'I was going through a lot of things when I lost here three years ago,' Gauff said after her victory, referencing her straight sets defeat to Iga Swiatek in the 2022 final.
'I'm just glad to be back here. I was going through a lot of dark thoughts. Three finals ... I guess I got the most important win. That's all that matters.'
Sabalenka recovered from a 4-1 deficit in an exciting first set tiebreak only to make a huge number of mistakes in the second and third as Gauff seized control.
'This hurts so much,' the World No. 1 said afterwards. 'Congratulations to Coco, she was a better player than me.' Get involved: live@theathletic.com
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French Open final: Coco Gauff beats Aryna Sabalenka to win second Grand Slam title Connections: Sports Edition Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Getty Images
Aryna Sabalenka, heartbroken, embraces Henin.
She holds her silver plate and poses, or rather just stands.
Her turn to speak. She can't initially, throwing her head back and blinking away tears, shaking her head.
Sabalenka's emotions taking over.
...is Belgian Justine Henin.
The 43-year-old won seven majors, including four here at Roland Garros, plus an Olympic gold medal.
She hands the umpire Mariiana Veljović a silver tray for officiating the final. She did a great job, too. Getty Images
Drained. Nothing more to give. But victorious. Getty Images
Relief and disbelief in equal measure from Coco Gauff, who was seemingly struggling to come to terms with her triumph.
The ballboys and ballgirls file out onto court.
Decent summer job, that. Getty Images
Not sure this what either player wants. Gauff watches it quietly.
Aryna Sabalenka, understandably, looks like she'd rather be anywhere but there, putting her towel over her head.
The No.2 seed prevailed over the No. 1 seed in a chaotic, tense and enthralling match, ultimately decided by Sabalenka's first-strike tennis, Gauff's adaptability to the conditions and the most unsatisfying statistic in tennis.
It is Gauff's first French Open title and her second Grand Slam singles title.
It brings her closer to Sabalenka, the runaway world No. 1 in the rankings, and gives Gauff her first major title away from the hard courts of her home major at the U.S. Open.
Below, The Athletic 's writers, Charlie Eccleshare and Matt Futterman, analyze the final and what it means for tennis.
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French Open final: Coco Gauff beats Aryna Sabalenka to win second Grand Slam title Getty Images
FINAL: Gauff 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 Sabalenka
A high five from Spike Lee, Coco Gauff climbs into her box and hugs her parents, then her coaches.
A beaming smile on her face.
The American is victorious! Getty Images
She's done it! Coco Gauff collapses onto the clay!
'Oh my God,' she says. 'Oh my God'.
On her knees, clay staining her forehand, she signs a love heart to her mum, who is jumping up and down for joy. Getty Images
Gauff 6-7(5), 6-2, 5-4* Sabalenka
An OK serve from Gauff, catches Sabalenka off guard, net. Super from Sabalenka, though, rushing the net daringly and volleying away adeptly and adroitly at the net.
A booming return, Sabalenka going for her shots, 15-30. Coco's mum Candi clapping her daughter on. Big serve, 30-all. Two more points...
One more now! Gauff mishits a forehand, a little lucky, draws Sabalenka into the net and Gauff slams it away for a winner!
Championship point... saved! Incredible bravery from Sabalenka, who thrashes desperately and her return hits the baseline! Deuce, then Sabalenka advantage as more merciless hitting slides beyond Gauff's grasp.
Advantage Aryna. She goes all-in, and it's wide. Deuce. Candi Gauff with eyes closed, muttering a little prayer heavenward.
Those prayers answered? Sabalenka slings it wearily into the net. A second championship point...
Gauff 6-7(5), 6-2, *5-4 Sabalenka
This is, obviously, a must-hold for top seed Aryna Sabalenka. Backhand volley at the net for 15-0. Sabalenka, sweat beading her hands, drops her racket after missing a first serve and wipes it dry.
Pinned back deep, Sabalenka with a horribly miscued backhand, miles wide. 66 unforced errors in this match, more than double Gauff's (30). 15-all.
Whoosh, a forehand with the force of a thousand suns, 30-15. Grip it and rip it, Gauff wide, 40-15. Gauff purses her lips ever so slightly. Brilliant return from Gauff, Sabalenka long, 40-30 and a slim chink of light for Gauff in this game.
Sabalenka unhappy with the bounce as Gauff's ball kicks up on her, and she pulls it wide. Big serve, then big smash, Gauff wide, advantage.
Wonderful point, hitting the corners with aplomb. Has Sabalenka found her hitting range in the nick of time? Getty Images
Gauff 6-7(5), 6-2, 5-3* Sabalenka
Double fault, gasps from the near-15,000-strong crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier, then an ace. How's that for contrasts?
15-all, Sabalenka into the net, brilliant retrieval low to her right, Gauff smacks it cross-court and Sabalenka gets a racket on it but the ball skids downwards and into the net! The power did for her there.
A wonderful arcing forehand into the corner, unplayable, winner. 40-15. Sabalenka long. Gauff edging closer. Getty Images
Gauff 6-7(5), 6-2, *4-3 Sabalenka
Sabalenka narrowly out, point replayed, but Sabalenka with not one but two really poor backhands into the net.
Nowhere near going over, either. 0-30 down and more complaints to her box. A double fault, 0-40 down, three break points to Coco Gauff.
Sabalenka yelling in disbelief at her box. The difference between her floor and ceiling is stark.
Fine shot from Gauff, the first point she's really won rather than Sabalenka losing it in this game, and it's a break to love. Gauff is two games from the championship. Getty Images
Gauff 6-7(5), 6-2, 3-3* Sabalenka
Nicely done. Under the floodlights in the dying natural light of this summer's day in Paris, Sabalenka plays an excellent point, forcing Gauff into the corner and putting the backhand volley away.
Double fault, 0-30, but Sabalenka, off-balance, makes two mistakes. I think she's struggling with her movement due to fatigue, not getting her feet into the right position to strike as powerfully as she is able.
Wow! Really unlucky net cord for Gauff, who shovels it wide. On such moments of fortune can matches, and finals, turn.
Gauff errs again and that's a break. How Coco will rue that intervention on the net. Getty Images
Gauff 6-7(5), 6-2, *3-2 Sabalenka
Advantage after a big serve. Sabalenka pauses with a scowl after a ballboy scrambles to retrieve a loose ball.
Gauff's return is long and that is vital for the world No. 1. Getty Images
The combination of what's at stake and the tour's best defender have been a lethal one-two punch to the Sabalenka jaw today.
All these errors do not happen in isolation.
Gauff 6-7(5), 6-2, *3-1 Sabalenka
Gauff goes 0-15 up, world-class returning, but Sabalenka does what so few players can and overwhelms her with pace. Stand and deliver, she tries to put her whole body into a backhand but can't get it over the net.
15-30. This game cannot slip through her fingers if she wants to lift the trophy. Gauff returns long, 30-all, fascinatingly poised.
Sabalenka gets away with a couple of shots in the rally, hitting the baseline twice, comes to the net but can only volley it back awkwardly and Gauff hits it clean as a whistle down the line for a fine winner.
30-40. Break point. A few deep breaths from the top seed. And a gargantuan serve saves the break point! Just kissed the line on the way through. Deuce.
Uh oh. Sabalenka with poor shot selection, tries a drop shot, wrong execution too, Gauff latches onto it and elicits the error. Another break point, another saved with a scorching winner down the line. Deuce again.
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Follow reaction to Coco Gauff's French Open victory after the 21-year-old American's thrilling three-set battle with the World No. 1 Getty Images The Athletic Coco Gauff fought back from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 in a rollercoaster French Open final. It is the second Grand Slam singles triumph of Gauff's career and her maiden Roland Garros title, adding to the US Open title she won in 2023, also by beating Sabalenka. 'I was going through a lot of things when I lost here three years ago,' Gauff said after her victory, referencing her straight sets defeat to Iga Swiatek in the 2022 final. 'I'm just glad to be back here. I was going through a lot of dark thoughts. Three finals ... I guess I got the most important win. That's all that matters.' Sabalenka recovered from a 4-1 deficit in an exciting first set tiebreak only to make a huge number of mistakes in the second and third as Gauff seized control. 'This hurts so much,' the World No. 1 said afterwards. 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Decent serve from Gauff... but in a French Open final, decent isn't good enough. Sabalenka creams her return back past a static Gauff. A sizzler of a forehand winner. Getty Images That was seven straight lost points on serve before Coco saved triple break point. If she gets back to level in this set, those three saves will have been a big turning point. Getty Images Gauff 1-3* Sabalenka Super setup from Sabalenka, who draws Gauff in with the drop shot, before settling into a strong foundation and pinging a rocket of a backhand passing shot down the line. Sabalenka goes hard to Gauff's backhand side, and it's long. 0-30. Gauff gives a little nod to herself in acknowledgement. But that's not what she wanted! Another miscue off a duff part of the racket and it's miles out. 0-40 and three more break points. Sabalenka long, unforced error, and the Belarusian grimaces. Big serve down the T, return long, two saved! And a third as she maneuvers Sabalenka into the corner then swats away a volley, imbuing it with the annoyance and frustration of the match so far. Cracking serve again, advantage... but she nets. Deuce. We saw Sabalenka use her first-strike tennis to knock down Iga Świątek early in their semifinal. Świątek responded in two ways: flattening out her own strikes to match Sabalenka's, and returning from a bit deeper to get into rallies, in which she could move Sabalenka all about the court. Gauff's forehand grip, like Świątek's, is extreme enough that flattening out is a bit difficult, and she doesn't have the vicious, spinning power behind her ball that Świątek could use to rip the initiative away from Sabalenka in the second set of their match. So Gauff needs to do what Świątek did: extend rallies, move Sabalenka, take away the first strike. Her groundstroke artillery just isn't as heavy. It's going to be tough. The wind's picked up a little, and may have contributed to that complete mishit from Gauff to fall down 3-1. Getty Images Gauff *1-3 Sabalenka Not so good and then good from Gauff, who on the stretch can only volley a backhand at the net straight down, before ripping one beyond Sabalenka. Taste of her own medicine. Now this is interesting. Sabalenka is tossing the ball pretty high for her serve and the ball is catching in the wind a bit, which she mentions to the umpire, before missing the first serve. Again the second is good, and Gauff errs, 30-15. Gauff clearly trying to match the aggression and speed on Sabalenka's balls, and it works there as Sabalenka is rushed into netting for 30-all. A near-unplayable serve at a potentially tricky part of the game. Ace. Gauff looks impassive. Ah, Gauff's eyes light up at a central forehand in the slot but she mishits it. 3-1. Getty Images Takeaway from three games... Sabalenka is trying to attack Gauff's strength, which is her running. She's moving the ball around the court rather than trying to hit through it. That should pay big dividends if she can keep Gauff from camping in the back to defend. Getty Images And there's the first double fault for Coco, often her Achilles heel. It gives Sabalenka an opening at 0-30, which she tuns into a break to love. Eight straight points for Sabalenka, who crunched a pair of backhands to seal that break. Gauff 1-2* Sabalenka Uh oh. Gauff goes wide, and worried about Sabalenka's brutal response to most second serves, overdoes it and double-faults. 0-30. Stinging return, return plus one whistles past Gauff's left. Sabalenka then sends Gauff careering to her left again, super get, before flipping her to the far right of the court. Again, Gauff has the foot speed to get there, but Sabalenka can calmly steer a volley into open court. A break to love after a hold to love. Sabalenka is cooking. Getty Images There's the first drop shot from Sabalenka. Increasingly such an important part of her arsenal. It works well, drawing a missed Gauff forehand for 40-0. Sabalenka holds to love to level things at 1-1. Getty Images Gauff *1-1 Sabalenka Wow, Aryna Sabalenka laughs in the face of danger and looks jeopardy in the whites of its eyes. She flings loads of torque into a second serve and it's an ace out wide! You don't see that often. Another booming drive to Gauff's right, 30-0. Sabalenka has the silk as well as the steel, though, throwing in a drop shot and even the quickest player on the tour can't capitalise, spooning her cross-court effort wide. Big serve, again, return wide. 1-1. Getty Images It's a warmish afternoon, not much of a breeze. Pretty mild conditions. Big noise for Gauff as she holds to 30 to take the first game of the match. Seems like the crowd are pretty evenly split at this point, we'll see how that develops as the match goes on. Gauff 1-0* Sabalenka Gauff's first serve is wide but Sabalenka then goes long on the second, 15-0 in the first point of the match and a nice little nerve-settle for the slight underdog. Two wild swipes after robust returns from Sabalenka, 15-30, but a big serve makes it 30-30. Sabalenka is on top of the rally after eyeing up a slower second serve, but Gauff changes the pace with a slice and Sabalenka nets. A seriously spinning forehand into the bottom-right corner of the court and Sabalenka nets again. Getty Images Top seed Aryna Sabalenka against second seed Coco Gauff. On the red clay of Court Philippe-Chatrier, Roland Garros' show court, the showpiece at the 2025 French Open. Gauff to serve first. And it's live!
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Former Tennis Star Pete Sampras Spotted in L.A. During Rare Public Appearance After Retirement Over 2 Decades Ago
NEED TO KNOW Pete Sampras, the former tennis star known as "Pistol Pete," was spotted during a rare public appearance on June 3 The athlete was seen while he made a coffee run in Beverly Hills Sampras, who retired over two decades ago in 2002, is well-known as one of the greatest tennis players of all time Pete Sampras was seen out and about during a rare public appearance. The former tennis star, 53, was spotted making a coffee run in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Tuesday, June 3. Sampras wore a dark gray Nike T-shirt and gray shorts while he carried two drinks in a beverage holder in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. Advertisement The athlete was last seen publicly in December 2024. Before that, he made a rare public appearance at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open, where he played with Novak Djokovic in an exhibition match. London Entertainment / SplashNews Pete Sampras on June 3. Pete Sampras on June 3. Sampras — also referred to as 'Pistol Pete' for his serve — is well-known as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He began his professional tennis career in 1988, when he was 16 years old. Sampras retired in 2002 after winning a then-record 14 Grand Slam titles and ending the year ranked as the ATP No. 1 player in the world from 1993 to 1998. The Hall-of-Famer, inducted in 2007, famously won seven Wimbledon titles, five U.S. Open championships and two Australian Opens over the course of his illustrious career. Advertisement Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Dimitri Iundt/Corbis/VCG via Getty Pete Sampras in 1990 Pete Sampras in 1990 In recent years, Sampras has remained largely away from the public eye. Back in October 2023, he revealed that his wife Bridgette Wilson-Sampras had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. In a statement released via the AP Tour on X, Sampras said, "As most have come to know, I am a pretty quiet and private person. However, this past year has been an exceptionally challenging time for my family, and I have decided to share what's been going on." Advertisement "Last December, my wife, Bridgette, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer," Sampras continued at the time. "Since then, she has had major surgery, pushed through chemotherapy and continues with targeted maintenance therapy." CAROL NEWSOM/AFP via Getty Pete Sampras after defeating Andre Agassi on Sept. 9, 1990 Pete Sampras after defeating Andre Agassi on Sept. 9, 1990 The tennis star further opened up about how "hard" it was to "watch someone you love go through a challenge like this," and praised the couple's sons, Christian and Ryan, for "stepping up" and being "such strong supporters" for their parents. Sampras also shared praise for Wilson-Sampras in his statement, calling her an "incredible mom and wife through it all." Advertisement Sampras has been with his wife, a former actress who starred in movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer and The Wedding Planner, since 1999. The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! The couple was introduced by former Los Angeles Lakers Vice President of Public Relations John Black. Sampras asked Black to connect him with Bridgette after seeing her in a film, which he shared in his 2008 book, A Champion's Mind. 'There was a bright spot to that otherwise terrible late summer — my injury was directly responsible for my wife and me meeting,' Sampras wrote. 'While I was hurt, I was watching this movie, Love Stinks, with a friend, John Black. Bridgette Wilson, an actress in the film, caught my eye. Actually, she blew me away when I saw her. I thought she was stunning.' Read the original article on People
