Aryna Sabalenka says Coco Gauff 'deserved to win' after declaring that Iga Świątek would have beat her in a French Open final
After a disappointing French Open final loss to Coco Gauff Saturday in which she committed 70 unforced errors, Aryna Sabalenka told reporters that she believed that Gauff would have lost a hypothetical final against Iga Świątek.
On Sunday, Sabalenka walked those comments back in an Instagram statement giving credit to Gauff for her championship victory.
'Yesterday was a tough one,' Sabalenka wrote. 'Coco handled the conditions much better than I did and fully deserved the win. She was the better player yesterday, and I want to give her the credit she earned.'
Advertisement
Sabalenka continued to lament her own performance, but declared that "both things can be true" in that she played poorly and Gauff played well.
'You all know me… I'm always going to be honest and human in how I process these moments," Sabalenka continued. "I made over 70 unforced errors, so I can't pretend it was a great day for me.
"But both things can be true… I didn't play my best, and Coco stepped up and played with poise and purpose. She earned that title. Respect.
"Time to rest , learn and come back stronger."
Gauff, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 1 seed Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 on a windy Saturday at the French Open final.
Aryna Sabalenka walked back comments suggesting that it was her own poor play, not Coco Gauff's performance, that led to Gauff's French Open final victory. (Tnani Badreddine/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
(DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Sabalenka downplayed Gauff's own play in championship win
Sabalenka previously defeated Świątek in straight sets in the semifinal to set up the championship match against Gauff. In her post-match news conference Saturday, Sabalenka said that Gauff won the final "not because she played incredible" but because of Sabalenka's own poor play.
"It was really, honestly, the worst tennis I've played in the last, I don't know, how many months. ...
Advertisement
"She won the match — not because she played incredible — just because I made all of those mistakes."
Sabalenka then said that she believed that Świątek would have defeated Gauff had Świątek advanced to the final
'That hurts,' Sabalenka said. 'Especially when you've been playing really great tennis during the whole week. You know, you've been playing against a lot of tough opponents, Olympic champion [Qinwen Zheng], Iga and then you go out, and you play really bad.
'I don't know. If Iga would [beat] me another day, I think she would go out today and get the win."
Gauff: 'I don't think that's a fair thing to say'
Gauff spoke with media following Sabalenka's comments.
Advertisement
"I don't agree with that," Gauff said. "I'm here sitting here. Last time I played — no [shade] to Iga or anything — but I played her and I won in straight sets.
I don't think that's a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen. Honestly the way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favorite to win. I think she was the best person I could have played in the final, her being No. 1 in the world, she was the best person to play.
The French Open final marked the second Grand Slam victory for Gauff at 21 years old. She previously defeated Sabalenka to win the 2023 US Open final.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
20 minutes ago
- New York Times
Jannik Sinner's French Open final defeat and how to turn a loss into progress
ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — After Carlos Alcaraz's last miracle shot had whizzed past him, and the most painful thing that can happen to a tennis player had really happened, Jannik Sinner sat on his chair with his head bent between his knees, rocking back and forth, wondering how the French Open final had possibly gone this way. Advertisement A month ago, he'd reappeared after a three-month anti-doping suspension, unsure of what his tennis might look like after the layoff. Three weeks ago, Alcaraz had handled him without too much stress to win the final of the Italian Open in Rome in straight sets. But two hours ago, Sinner had come within a point of capturing a third Grand Slam title in a row. His fourth overall. His first on the red clay of Roland Garros, supposedly his worst surface. The guy on the other side of the net appeared to need nothing bit the lightest of shoves to fall off the cliff. And then, everything started to go away very quickly. Alcaraz erased three championship points. Balls that Sinner had rifled at the lines all afternoon thudded into the middle of the net. From three points from victory, Sinner found himself having to play one set for all of it. During the changeover before the fifth set, Sinner sat on his chair trying to muster the strength to fight some more, as Alcaraz sprinted on the clay and danced across the back of the court pumping his fist to the crowd as 'Sweet Caroline' blasted from the sound system. He'd mount his own wild recovery, breaking his rival as he stood at the brink of the championship, nudging this duel as far as it could possibly go. But then Alcaraz played a match tiebreak from another planet, taking the match from Sinner one last time. As he sat rocking there, on his chair, the Italian was finally confronting the fate that was destined to befall one of these two gladiators: A first defeat in a Grand Slam final. An hour before, it had all been so different. Those match points were gone, but there were more points to play. He'd done what the best of the best figure out how to do. He deleted everything that had happened from his mind and told himself to start again at zero. And then there was no starting over. 'When it was over, it was over,' he said, red-faced, red-eyed, feeling things he'd never felt before in this glorious but often cruel endeavor. 'You cannot change anymore when the match is over.' Sinner went through something Sunday that can break someone's career. There's a pretty good chance nothing of the sort will happen to him. Advertisement He went through something last year that would break a lot of players too. He tested positive for a banned substance twice, and then played some of the best tennis on the planet, having convinced two tribunals of his innocence but still waiting for the third, final judgment. When his doping case became public, he sat and answered plenty of questions about it. And then he won the U.S. Open, amid the public derision and skepticism of some his fellow players. He won the Australian Open and continued to separate himself from everyone in the sport — with the exception of the Spanish savant he faced on Sunday in Paris — before the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), who had appealed tennis doping authorities' decision not to ban Sinner, organized a case resolution agreement with his lawyers that came with a three-month suspension attached. Sinner knows some things about how to 'dance in the pressure storm,' as he once put it. He knows how to take a setback with both pain and grace, and how to come back from it. All that said, this one hurt. 'Difficult to accept now because I had lots of chances, but this is the good part of the sport,' he said. 'Also today it got me the sad part, no? But, you know, if you watch only the sad part, you're never going to come back.' On the podium during the trophy ceremony, he'd been the definition of grace when the hurt was as raw as it had been. Tennis is unique in its sadism, making its loser hang around amid the victory celebration. As Sinner sat on his chair, a video played above on a giant screen, celebrating Alcaraz's journey to the title. He didn't dare look up. But then he took the microphone and told Alcaraz how much he deserved the win. It was a stark contrast to 24 hours before, when Aryna Sabalenka lost a knife-edge championship match to Coco Gauff. Advertisement Then she told the world that she lost because she had played terribly amid horribly windy conditions. Whatever Sabalenka had done, Sinner was doing the opposite. He remains baffled by his existence. His mother was at the final Sunday, but not his father. He's a chef in northern Italy. He had to work. 'We are just a very simple family,' he said. He leaned on them during the tough times last year. He plans to lean on them too get through the after-effects of Sunday. He was so close. 'I was break up in the third,' he said. 'A break up in the fourth. Was three match points. Serving for the match. Came back. 6-5, I had chances also in the fifth. So many chances I couldn't use. Sometimes you have these days like you have. You can't really do anything now. 'It's a giving at times, and sometimes you take something,' he said. 'And now it's my time to take something from the close people I have.' He was smiling as he spoke, by then. He knew this was part of what he had signed on for. Even at this low moment, there was gratitude for getting to a place where he said he never dreamed he might be. He'd been a part of one of the most memorable matches in the sport's modern era, with another of its great talents. 'It's good for the whole movement of tennis and the crowd,' he said, a hint of the smile still there. 'It was a good atmosphere today and also to be part of it, it's very special. Of course I'm happy to be part of this. Would be even more happy if I would have here the big trophy. But as I said, you can't change it now.' No, he can't. But tennis doesn't stop. Another Grand Slam, Wimbledon starts in three weeks. Very quickly, Sinner will be back.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Lewandowski to boycott national team under current coach
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski said Sunday he would not play for his national team Poland so long as coach Michal Probierz remained in charge. The 36-year-old has played 158 times for Poland, scoring 85 goals, but earlier in the day was replaced as team captain by Piotr Zielinski. Advertisement "Taking into account the circumstances and a loss of trust in the coach, I have decided to resign from playing for the Poland national team for as long as he remains in charge," Lewandowski said on X. But the former Bayern Munich centre-forward left the door open for a return. "I hope I will still have another chance to play again for the best fans in the world," he said. Probierz has been Poland coach since 2023, and led them to the Euro 2024 finals where they failed to win a game and were eliminated in the group stage. Earlier on Sunday, the Polish Football Association announced on its website the coach's decision to replace Lewandowski as skipper. Advertisement "The coach has personally informed Robert Lewandowski, the entire team and the technical staff of his decision," the federation said. Lewandowski is not part of the Polish squad in the current international window. According to Polish news agency PAP, the player asked to be excused to rest. Lewandoswki has just won a domestic Spanish treble with his club Barcelona. Poland beat Moldova 2-0 on June 6 in a friendly and faces Finland on Tuesday in Helsinki in Group G of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. With two wins from as many matches, Poland top the group. sw/hpa/bm/dmc/pb
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn team to win the American Family Insurance Championship
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — European Ryder Cup captains and teammates Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn won the American Family Insurance Championship on Sunday, shooting a 7-under 64 in better-ball play for a four-stroke victory over four teams. The tournament hosted by Steve Stricker — who tied for second with brother-in-law Mario Tiziani — switched to the team format this year, giving the PGA Tour Champions its only team event. Advertisement Clarke and Bjorn finished at 32-under 181 at TPC Wisconsin. They opened with a better-ball 59 and shot a 58 on Saturday in a scramble round. The 56-year-old Clarke, from Northern Ireland, won for the fifth time on the 59-and-over tour. The 54-year-old Bjorn, from Denmark, won his first Champions title. Striker and Tiziani closed with a 65 to match the teams of Alex Cejka-Soren Kjeldsen (59), Doug Barron-Dicky Pride (69) and Steve Flesch-Paul Goydos (64) at 28 under. Bernhard Langer and Steven Alker were another stroke back after a 63. Ernie Els, the winner last year in individual play, teamed with Tim Herron for a 66 that left them 26 under. ___ AP golf:
